Kyra's Nightmare
by MariNisharo
Summary: The Sole Survivor embarks on a mission to clean up the Commonwealth and find his son. Various things stand in his way, including the leader of a notoriously corrupt and bloodthirsty raider gang that seems bent on taking over. The Leader of this raider gang embarks on her own mission of taking over a place she was once so fond of. Their meeting sets her sighs on the Institute.
1. The Rumors of Killers

Well, I have a bit about this story I'm not quite a fan of because I dragged this thing up from my work I had been doing last year, but alas, here I am to try to bring this piece back to life. When I finish the entire thing, I may come back and re-write the beginning just for kicks.

[Disclaimer]: I do not own Fallout 4 or any canon characters. I do claim ownership over the very few amount of OCs that appear within the story.

Story Summary: The Sole Survivor embarks on a mission to clean up the Commonwealth and find his son with the help of his faithful companions. Various things stand in his way, including the leader of a notoriously corrupt and bloodthirsty raider gang that seems bent on taking over. The Leader of this raider gang embarks on her own mission of taking over a place she was once so fond of. She has the help of her own companions. Once she has her fateful encounter with the Sole Survivor, she sets her sighs on somewhere new-somewhere underground.

"A Guide of the Commonwealth" by an omnipotent Narrator:

1) Do not try to track down known killers. This is usually not worth the time or effort unless there is a good bounty.

2) Throw odd things off of bridges at your own risk.

Chapter 1~ The Rumors of Killers

The Commonwealth is a place where legends of great warriors are a reality. One instance is the sole survivor: a man on a mission to find his son and avenge his wife. In this age, legends are a lot of what people talk about. Rumors and lore all fit into legends, making each rumor and bits of gossip a possible reality.

Gossip and rumors make up all of what is known about the Institute to many common people. Not many know extensive information about the place, and so, the knowledge many know is spread by the rumors and gossip amongst the people of the Commonwealth.

Today, an odd bit of gossip had been circling around the Dugout Inn. Three men sit at a small table, a drink in each of their hands. The three men do not look like ordinary residents from the city; no, they seem to be three travelers that had happened to bump into one another in this very Inn.

The first man, dressed in a dirty black suit leans forward and eyes the other men at the table before speaking a bit lowly, "You hear about the lunatic that took over the fallen sky bridge a few months back?" He waits for the men to process what he asked and rests his chin on his hand while keeping his glass on the table with the other.

The man to his left, a scrawny looking fellow with bright blonde hair, perks up. He thinks for a few seconds before providing his input. "I did. She took out all those super mutants too. I heard she has three dozen raiders under her thumb to do all of her bidding." He had to remember what exactly he heard from the passing trader on his way to Diamond City before he could tell them his thoughts.

The last man, a darker skinned man with a plain shirt and jeans, smiles a huge smile, knowing that he has something interesting to tell the other two, "I heard she fights alongside them. Guy I know said he watched a fight once and saw her rip off a gunner's head—with her bare hands!" He watches as the other two men look at him with mouths agape. He gives a grin.

A dark haired man dressed in various different pieces of armor stands from the bar and walks over to a small table a few of the gossiping travelers resided at. "What's this about a raider group?"

The three men look up at the strange man. The man in the black suit who started their little gossip circle speaks up, "The Fallen Skybridge, over by the Combat Zone and Goodneighbor, had been taken over a few months ago by a new raider gang. Kyra the Killer. That is what they started to call her anyways."

"What are they called? Do they have any specifics, other than the location?" He gives the three a charming smile. They all give him wary looks before looking around to see nobody else listening in to their conversation. The man in the suit waves the stranger closer so he can speak in a hushed voice.

"They call themselves Nightmare. I heard it was because they are the new nightmare of the Commonwealth. Their leader, Kyra, is young, ruthless and insane, but probably the prettiest woman in the whole Commonwealth."

"Anything more?"

"I heard that they wear modified Brotherhood of Steel jumpsuits," The scrawny man with blonde hair adds, "Since those guys came here, apparently Nightmare has been giving them a run for their money. This guy I know, says they soak the jumpsuits in the blood of their enemies. The new guys have clean armor and what not. I wouldn't suggest a tangle with them."

The stranger nods in thought. "Nate," he hears from behind him.

"Not now, Mac," Nate calls back. "What does Kyra look like?"

"I haven't ever seen her," The third man says, "but my friend, the one that saw her pull off a gunner's head, he would know. If you want to go talk to him, he lives in Goodneighbor. His name is Anthony, usually hangs out in the Third Rail," The man says.

"Thank you. You all have been a big help." Nate turns and returns to the bar. He slaps some caps down on the table and nods to Vadim, "Thanks for the drinks. See you around some time." Nate walks out of the Inn with his companion at his side.

"I've heard of Kyra before. This chick is seriously bad news," MacCready sighs and crosses his arms.

"You know who this Kyra is?"

"I have heard a few stories about her," MacCready frowns at the thoughts of the stories he had heard. "I did happen to hear the one about her battle with the gunners down in Quincy before I had left. She's bad news. As far as raiders go, the crazier you are, the higher in command you are. She leads her own group with no known superiors."

"Do you know what she looks like?" Nate raises an eyebrow and looks to his friend as they walk.

MacCready sighs and shakes his head, "I heard she is young, probably about twenty or so. I don't really know too many specifics."

Nate gives an amused snort. He had never heard of this woman until that day, and she had seemed to already have quite a reputation. He had to wonder why he hears of her now. Had he not been in the Commonwealth for some time? He had killed the vagrant that took his wife and son, and he had been to Goodneighbor to get the chip analyzed, but he had yet to want to go to the glowing sea to speak with Virgil.

Something about the idea of walking through the radiation and variety of feral nests did not really spike his interests. Nate did want to go after his son, but he had to prepare to wander through the Glowing Sea. He didn't want to die before he had a chance to get his son back. He would not die before he did.

He looked up from the ground to notice they were approaching Goodneighbor. Nate was so lost in thought that he had not noticed they were almost there. He sighs and walks through the outer door to the inner streets.

Nate looks around to see Daisy and KL-E-O. He gives a wave to Daisy before making his way down to the Third Rail. He walks up to Whitechapel Charlie and waits for the Mr. Handy to notice his presence at the bar. "Hey Charlie," Nate calls, "Which one of these guys is Anthony?"

He feels a tap on his shoulder and turns around to see a scrawny looking man with black hair. "I am Anthony, sir," he says in a hoarse voice. Nate sighs internally, realizing that this guy could be helpful, but his overall look suggests that he would have more hallucinations than seeing things for real.

"I want to know more about Kyra the Killer," Nate tells him plainly. The scrawny man gives Nate wide eyes before backing up a few feet. He looks around a bit before motioning for both Nate and MacCready to follow him to the VIP room.

Once they were all settled down, Anthony looks around a bit more before leaning forward to speak to Nate. "Why do you want to know about her? She's dangerous, sir."

"A guy in Diamond City had been gossiping about her. I asked where I could learn more, and he pointed me in your direction." Nate crosses his arms and leans back in the couch, "I wanted to know what she looked like. I'm a good fellow, trying to clean up the world. This raider gang seems like they need to be disbanded."

"You're pretty brave Mr.…" He trails off, realizing that he did not get the name of the man he was talking to.

"Nate," the sole survivor offers.

"I'll tell you all that I know about her, but you have to know, that they might already know you are looking for Kyra."

Nate nods to him, waiting for him to go on. "She's young. I would say anywhere from sixteen to twenty-five, but she does look very young. She has long silver hair and a crazy look in her eyes." Nate's eyes widen slightly but he does his best to look serious and unamused. "When I saw her, she was battling alongside her gang against some gunners."

"She wears one of those black Brotherhood of Steel uniforms, the ones that only the officers wear. She had on some really thick combat armor and carried a large serrated sword. She also had a syringer hanging off her hip. Damn girl is fast too, and she's strong, despite her looks."

Nate turns his head towards MacCready when he hears an annoyed snort. MacCready gives him a questioning glance, "This guy thinks any of this matters. You have a minigun back at your place. Just use that to wipe them out."

"I would do that… I just have to find out something first. We will go there, and ask to speak with Kyra. If they turn hostile, then we can go and wipe them out," Nate's eyes become full of sadness. Anthony stands and gives a small nod before leaving Nate and MacCready to sit in silence.

"There something you want to talk about, man?" MacCready turns towards Nate and crosses his arms. He knew there was some reason Nate was so determined to find out more about this girl.

"I knew someone once, named Kyra. She had beautiful silver hair, and she was a bit wild. I know that there is likely no chance it is her, considering this whole two hundred years business, but I just…" He sighs and looks away from his companion.

"You have to see if you know her?" MacCready offers in place of Nate's silence, "Have you thought that maybe she is a descendent of whomever it is that you think you know?"

"I won't ever know if it's her if I don't go check."

MacCready nods to his friend and stands, "Well, let's get going. I bet if we get going now, we can get there before it gets too dark."

Nate stands and wanders around the town before getting up enough courage to wander over to the Combat Zone. The raiders there had already known him and knew to stay away from him since they heard about the last time he visited the establishment. Nate walks over to the two raiders at the door, noticing them cower in fear slightly.

"I want you to take me to Kyra the Killer's place of residence."

…

"Kyra, I think we finally got a working poison," a hoarse voice calls from the doorway. "Oh?" The woman presumed to be Kyra turns around in her swivel chair a few times before she rolls it over to the middle of the room. "The _almighty_ Toxic Todd has finally come up with a worthy poison?" A large smile spreads across his face as he holds up a flask full of red and black swirling liquid.

"I wanted you to come by the lab and see the effects," Todd explains. Kyra stands, her silvery hair swishing as she does so and cascading down her back. She follows Todd out the small shack and onto the fallen Skybridge. She walks with him up the piles of rubble and broken cars to the ruined skyscraper. He holds the door open for her, chuckling when he sees pink dust her cheeks.

They use the elevator to go to his floor and enter into his makeshift lab. He has an odd looking man chained up in the corner. Todd pours the liquid into a spray bottle and gives the man a puff of mist. Kyra covers her ears once the man begins to holler at the top of his lungs. He begins to claw at his eyes and flail his arms before himself, attempting to shield himself from some invisible force.

"It is the Liquid Nightmare. It is in the beginning stages, so I will only have the liquid form for now. After a while, we can try to get some sort of mist or even a bomb or sorts," He walks over and picks up a thick folder. He hands it over to Kyra and she reads through them quickly. "I hope that you can get this done. I would like to take Diamond City. Once we have that place, we can go after Goodneighbor, then we can try to capture a few of the settlements around here."

Todd gives her a large smile before catching her in a hug. "I bet your parents would be so proud, Kyra," He beams at her. She gives him a nervous smile and tries to wriggle free from his embrace.

"Todd, please let go. I don't think my parents would be happy. I think they would be disappointed that I rose to power like… this… She always dreamed I would do something great. She figured I could rule the world if I wanted. I don't think she meant that I pillage and rampage throughout the Commonwealth to do so," She sighs and crosses her arms.

"Don't worry about it so much, Kyra," Todd beams before he takes her hand and drags her out of the building onto the fallen Skybridge. "Let's go do something fun to take your mind off of it."

"We can try to trick Sheryl into eating dog food again?"

"You bet, kid."

"Why must you call me that? I'm twenty for crying out loud!" Kyra crosses her arms and huffs angrily at her scientist friend.

"Because in my eyes, you are a kid. Someone as old as myself, could only see someone as young as you as a child. You are still so new to the world, despite being so damn vicious," He gives a hearty laugh and ruffles her silver hair. She growls at him and swats his hands away.

Kyra and Todd had been nearly inseparable since they took over the Fallen Skybridge. Kyra had viewed the man as a father, or with his age, a young grandfather. Todd viewed her as a granddaughter, albeit a violent psychopathic one.

Kyra and Todd walk to the edge of the bridge and look towards the horizon. She gives a smile, "I bet I could toss a blood bag farther than you could," She teases. He raises an eyebrow but does not question her; instead he waves over a passing man.

The man looked clean, and a bit new, so Todd figured he could learn the lesson that Kyra is a bit wild early on. He points up to the pool deck of Hub 360, "The box next to the door, please bring it here for the boss." The man nods and scampers away. He returns a few moments later with the wooden crate full of deep red liquids in miscellaneous containers.

"New guy," Kyra calls to him before he could walk away. He turns and walks back over, careful not to look her in the eyes. She picks up a clear bag filled with the deep red liquid. "You should toss one. It's pretty fun," She shoves it into his hands and gives a big smile. He smiles back and chucks it off the bridge.

Kyra, Todd and the new raider watch the back splatter on the ground. "Pretty good," she tells him. Todd points to a caravan. Kyra picks up another bag and stretches her arm a bit. She flings the bag with all her might and laughs when it splatters on the ground right in front of one of the guards. They all look up to where she stands and pull out their guns.

"I think they want a fight," she says. She turns around to spot the raiders lazing around on the bridge. "Hey, fellas!" She waves and calls them over, "I think they want a fight!" Several people stand at the word fight. "Rusty? Where is Rusty? Oh, there you are. Please bring me… The Vanquisher."

Rusty, called such for his rust colored hair, runs to the small shack Kyra had claimed was the weapons depot and returns with a large missile launcher. He loads a missile in it for her and she steps closer to the edge. Kyra points it at the caravan and steadies it on her shoulder. "Bye-bye," She laughs as she fires the missile. Bodies and body parts fly from the origin of impact.

The raiders around her cheer and pat her on the back for her impeccable aim. Many of the new ones stare at her with wide eyes, quite unsure of what to make of her. Some of the raiders that have been with Nightmare for a much longer time have become used to her antics and just roll with whatever she decides to do.

"You were right, Todd. This did make me happier."

 _..._

[AN]: Well, I know this chapter was a bit short, and so will the next few, but I am aiming for 3k+ for each chapter. I hope you stick with me and keep reading. See you next time! R&R!


	2. The Address

[Disclaimer]: I do not own Fallout 4 or any canon characters. I do claim ownership over the very few amount of OCs that appear within the story.

This chapter is very short and for that I am sorry. I was actually considering merging this chapter with the third but oh well~ There is yet to be any interaction between Nate and Kyra, but I promise something good for the future. This is just the tip of the iceberg and I have a lot of great things planned for this story, so sit back and enjoy.

"A Guide of the Commonwealth" by an omnipotent Narrator:

3) Caps are valuable. They are worth getting into a fight over.

Chapter 2~ The Address

Nate had intimidated the raiders on lookout in front of the Combat Zone to take him as far as they could without getting killed off in his search for Kyra. The two raiders nervously walked onwards until they hear a large explosion. "Screw this!" The woman yells before booking it back to the Combat Zone.

Nate eyes the man before pointing forwards and giving a glare. They walk onwards until they get to the site painted with blood, body parts, and scorch marks. Nate looks up at the sound of cheering and moving silhouettes. Nate looks to see the raider leading him visibly shaking like a leaf in his boots.

The raider stops and turns towards Nate, "Please don't kill me. I can't go any farther into Nightmare territory. Walk up those steps and across the little planks once you get to the top. Raise your hands above your head and tell them you wish to speak with Kyra the Killer. They will keep you where you are until they can talk to her. After that, you just better hope that she is in the right mood."

Nate gives him a questioning look but doesn't ask anything. He walks down an old alleyway with MacCready close at his heels. There was a fire escape, which was likely what the raider was telling him about. They curse the stairs every time they creak a bit too loudly as they sneak closer to the top.

MacCready goes first on the rooftop of the first building and looks past the corner. "Coast is clear so far. There's a power pylon connecting this building to the next. It looks safe."

Nate crouches down and makes his way over after picking up a few stray bullets off the ground. He looks at the downed pylon that acts as a bridge across the buildings. "We're going to have to cross here. I don't see any other way, and I doubt we will be able to get that raider to show us another way."

"Just be careful," MacCready sighs.

Nate crouches down and slowly inches his way along the metal. A fall from this height would hurt; it would maybe even break a few bones. After inching his way along slowly, he hears more cheering from above.

…

"A round of whiskey on me!" Kyra hollers from the top of the shack dubbed as weapons depot. She holds three bottles of whiskey in her arms as her raider subordinates cheer. The raiders dressed in varying colors of red and orange brotherhood jumpsuits and pieces or rusty armor throw their hands up and cheer.

"Who's the best god damned leader out here?"

They all shout in unison, "Kyra the Killer!" A few shout afterward, the other few names she was known by, "Silver Slayer!" and "Sterling Nightmare!"

"To glory!" She cries.

"To riches!" They holler afterwards.

"You guys are finally getting the hang of it! I mean it took a while, but you all finally get it. Now, for the serious part. Todd, will you come up here and make the announcement?" Kyra steps to the side to let Todd stand in the middle. She laces her fingers behind her back and gives a charming smile.

"Yes, I do believe I have an interesting announcement to make." He holds up the bottle of swirling red and black liquid. "In my hand, I hold Liquid Nightmare. It is in the final stages of completion. I will soon be able to make it gaseous. You will all be equipped with gas masks and other preventatives to keep yourself safe."

Kyra steps forward. "Today, we occupy the Sky Bridge. Very soon, we make our move on Diamond City. We need recruits and lots of them. We will begin training next week. I want you bloodier, wilder, fiercer and I want you ruthless. We will expand and conquer the Commonwealth. We can, and we will, for we, are Nightmare!"

Kyra reaches into her pockets and throws caps into her little crowd of raiders. "Buy yourselves some awesome weapons!" The raiders hoot and holler with joy before getting into a fight over the loose bottle caps. Kyra leans closer to Todd, "Should we throw more?"

"No. They will only fight more."

"I like it when they fight. They are like a family. I… I sort of miss having a family." Kyra sighs and looks towards Diamond City. "I sort of wish that I could have had a few more years with them."

"I remember when I first met you. You were… fifteen, right?" Kyra nods. "A lone girl wandering the streets in clothes that looked like they came from a dead guy."

"I told you, they did come from a dead guy."

"Right, well you were so vicious even then. I remember, because you shot at me. I think that you had come a long way since then. You made a family out of all of these… lost souls…" He gives a laugh, knowing that some of these guys and gals could have been better in a ditch. "My point is: you have a family here, Kyra. These crazy guys, they all look up to you. We are going to take this little band up to the top."

"I guess they are my family. You're like a father… grandfather… type of figure. They are like my brothers and sisters. Or maybe they are more like little cousins…" She trails off as they all start getting out weapons to continue their fight.

"That's enough," She calls out. They all stop as if they were in a freeze frame. "You can all fight another time. Get cleaned up and ready for food. I need weapons stocked and accounted for as well as cleaned. I want bullet counts too. Delegate six people," she pauses while everyone groans and complains, "Whoever does it gets twice the amount of caps as usual."

They all break out in another fight.

"That was awful," Todd chides her. She just gives a smile and jumps off the little shack, heading up to the pool on the balcony near the west side of the sky bridge.

"I'll be relaxing by the pool, do send someone with my dinner, Todd."

...

[AN]: Yes, a very short chapter indeed. Good thing you have the next one to look forward to. Anyways, R&R.


	3. The Meeting

[Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout 4 or any canon characters. I do claim ownership over the very few amount of OCs that appear within the story.

Not quite as long as I wanted it to be, but this does hold a good importance. This chapter is also important in that it has a cameo appearance from another character from a different fandom. I don't want to call this a crossover though because it really doesn't have to do with them and just as easily could I change their names and a few things and it would be like they were never there to begin with. So I'm going to keep them there and if you are part of that fandom as well, hurray! You get to have two in one. If you guess who he is and where he comes from, extra cookies for you! He, along with several other characters make appearances and may even become just as important as Nate and MacCready, but they are there to support the plot and not become the main focus of the story.

"A Guide of the Commonwealth" by an omnipotent Narrator:

4) Be polite to people who could easily kill you.

5) Never oil a swivel chair too much!

6) Always choose your family first.

7) Pouting is for children.

Chapter 3~ The Meeting

Upon hearing the hooting and hollering from the Skybridge above, Nate and MacCready climb to the nearest roof and take cover behind a large vent output. Nate pulls out his laser rifle with the recon scope mounted on it. He would never be able to hit anyone from the distance, but the scope did come in handy for looking around.

"There is a crowd of about sixty… They all seem to be cheering at something on the building in front of them, but I can't see who it is…" He leans a bit more the right, trying to get a glimpse of anything.

MacCready moves over a little, "I'm going to try to get higher." He slinks over to a pile of rubble and climbs the side opposite the bridge so he isn't seen. He pulls out his rifle and looks through the scope. He could now see more of the shack and the crowd.

He could see the beautiful young woman standing on the shack throwing handfuls of caps into the crowd. He can't hear what she is saying to them, or to the older gentleman standing slightly behind her. She wears a black Brotherhood Officer's uniform with red combat armor. She has waist-length silver hair with noticeable reddish stains near the ends. Just like Anthony said, she had a sword hanging off of one side of her hips and a syringer on the other.

MacCready watches for a bit longer until she hops off the shack and practically skips over to the apartments building to the west. She seats herself by the pool and begins to polish her serrated sword. He slinks back over to Nate. "She has a sword and a syringer on her. I think we should go, man. She's seriously bad news."

"Let's just go there with our hands held high. We can get a dialogue with her. I just… I need to meet her."

"You wanna meet the boss?"

Both MacCready and Nate freeze. Nate slowly looks over his shoulder to a young blonde with a silly cowlick in the front of his hair. He wears a deep red jumpsuit. "We did want to talk to her, yeah." Nate sets his gun down and stands slowly. The raider standing behind them makes no move at them, or to even warn anyone. He seemed… completely at ease with them both being there.

Nate remembered what he was told about their suits and the colors. The redder, the more kills—or rather sometimes… messier… kills. "I can take you guys to her." He smiles so innocently.

"That would be really nice, can you do that please?" Nate tries his hardest to be nice and polite without looking too nervous. MacCready gives a scowl towards the man and holds his gun close.

"I won't take your weapons, but I do ask that you unload them. We promise not to attack unless the boss gives her word. We don't wanna scare off any potential business."

The raider walks towards some more stairs and turns to wait for them. Nate follows cautiously. MacCready follows Nate, sulking like a kicked puppy. They all walk through a ruined building that seemed to have been shaped a bit to connect the building to the Skybridge. "My name is Alfred, by the way," the raider tells them.

"Nice to meet you, Alfred. I'm Nate." He tries his hardest to be polite. MacCready grumbles his name as a response.

They get to a rickety few boards and climb into a bus. They walk out the end to be met with a few more raiders. They all looked a bit surprised, but said nothing. It seemed that the darker one's suit, the higher up in command they were. They all had on fairly orange suits while their guide's was the deep red.

"Pay no mind to the others. Be very excited that I happened upon you instead of them. There are only a few others that stand above me here." He leads them onto the bridge and closer to all of the other raiders. He whistles at a few of them and waves them over. "Please tell the boss that we have some visitors. I will escort them to the waiting room. They are not to be harmed in any way unless she gives permission."

The three raiders jog in the direction of Hub 360. Alfred escorts them to the other building and has them wait in a room to the left. "The boss will send someone to retrieve you shortly." He closes the door and leaves the two of them to sit in the dirty room.

There were two couches and a coffee table with burnt magazines. There was a broken TV across the way and a few dying plants in makeshift vases. Nate takes his seat on the couch, making sure to keep clear of the blood on the left side. It was still wet, and looked fresh.

"This what you were hoping for, buddy?" MacCready had his arms crossed as he looks down on his friend. He had wished they turned around and left before Alfred had come upon them. He didn't think it was so necessary to be this close to the manic raiders.

There was a quiet knock on the door. They both turn to look as it slides open. An old man stands in the doorway, "It seems as though I have been promoted to assistant. Please come this way," he motions for them both to follow. "You both are quite lucky to have come on such a day. The boss is in quite a good mood. She may even allow you both to live."

"Does she usually not let people walk out of here alive?" Nate walks a bit closer to the 'assistant' when he asks.

"Generally, she gives them a one minute head start. She might even give you two." Nate feels his heart sink slightly at the thought of having to face all of those raiders.

They reach the top floor and the man stops. "My name is Todd. It has been a pleasure to know you fine gentleman. Please try to keep your screams to a minimum." Todd turns and walks back down the stairs.

Nate opens the door to see a surprisingly clean office. There were some fake plants beside the door. There were file cabinets all around with an old couch and coffee table in one corner. At the end of the office, there was a huge window, spanning most of the wall. It was made up of smaller squares of glass that had somehow survived everything.

There was a desk with a swivel chair facing away from them both. The door closes once they are both in the office. "Good evening, gentlemen," The chair spins around slowly, revealing none other than Kyra the Killer. "I believe you have some important business to—" Her chair continues to spin so that she is no longer facing them.

"It seems as though my first impression of a serious boss of a ruthless raider group was ruined by an over-oiled chair. How… embarrassing." She turns her chair and scoots closer to the desk and leans into it. "What business have you to discuss, gentlemen?"

"Kyra?"

"That is my name, Sir."

"Kyra… Sinclair?"

She narrows her eyes and rests her chin on her hands. "Interesting indeed. Someone who knows of a name I have yet to utter to anyone. Do go on, about how you know about this name, Mr.…"

"You… you don't recognize me?"

"And why should I recognize you? I seem to have just met you today. Most people I meet and no longer remember, no longer exist."

"It's me… Nate… Nate Sinclair." He takes a step towards the desk, raising his hands slightly.

"Not another step." She stands, pulling out her sword, as her chair rolls backwards slightly. "Don't you come any closer. I don't know what kind of game you think you're playing, but I don't like it."

"You were Will's kid. It's me, Uncle Nate. I… you came from the vault too." He steps closer.

"You stay there! I'm serious. Stay where you are!" She holds the sword in front of her but backs away a bit.

"Two hundred and ten years ago, the bombs fell and we all went to the Vault. You lived in the blue house next to ours, but we didn't see you go in. You must have gone before us and were already frozen… Please Kyra."

"N-Nate?" She steps forward and then backwards, conflicted. Everyone was dead. He was dead too. She already came to the realization that everyone she had ever known was dead. She steels her composure, "No. My family died. I don't know what you're talking about. I grew up in the commonwealth with all of these raiders."

"Your birthday is September the third! You were fifteen when we went to the vault. Three weeks before, we all got to meet up so you could see us again. You wore a dress. It was green… no… it was blue—and you wore these dorky boots with it. They had cats or something near the top."

"Stop!" She screams at the top of her lungs. "Don't you dare say another thing. You're crazy!" Tears drip down her cheeks as she bares her teeth.

MacCready steps forward and puts a hand on Nate's shoulder. "Man, don't make a scene like this. You're going to get an arm chopped off." Nate looks at his left arm and down at his hand.

His eyes widen when he sees the golden band. He pulls another similar band from a string around his neck. "Look," He steps forward and sets the ring on the edge of the desk then backs up closer to the door. Kyra waits a few moments before cautiously snatching the ring. She looks at the gold band.

On the inside, there was a nearly perfect condition engraving. "This…" She looks up at Nate. "This was Nora's… Is… She's not alive… is she? Where… where's Shaun?..." She looks up at Nate with teary eyes.

"The Institute has him… They took him and I'm going to get him back. Nora… did not make it. I… I killed the man that did it." He looks at her. "You're not a kid anymore, are you?" He steps forward but steps back again when she raises her sword.

"No. I got out about four years ago. It was not the same date that it was when I went it. I'm probably around twenty now. If I did the math correctly…" She tosses the ring back to him and sits in her chair. "I can't believe you're alive. You're the guy they have been talking about on the radio huh? You're here to kill me then? You're making the 'wealth clean again huh?"

"I'm not going to kill you. You're family."

"Then what are you here to do? Please make it quick. I'm missing dinner."

"Come with me back home, Kyra. We have a settlement in Sanctuary Hills. We can fix up your house, and you can settle there. We can get Shaun back and we can all be together, as a family. You can find a husband and have children of your own."

Her cheeks begin to heat up, "Enough." She dries her tears and tries to make her blush go away. "I can't go with you, Nate. We have plans, my family and I. Though I cannot disclose them, I can say that they are grand. Sanctuary will be protected from my expansion."

"Please, Kyra."

"No. I found my place in this awful wasteland. I used to wander the streets like _garbage_. I made friends and trained hard. I rose to the top and gathered other people that had nowhere they belonged and gave them somewhere they could call home. This is my family now, Nate. I must be going now. I have work to do and dinner to eat. You are welcome to stay for the evening, but I wish you to be gone tomorrow. I will have Todd arrange your quarters."

Kyra stands and walks past the two, out the door. Nate sinks to his knees and runs his fingers through his hair. "She… She's… I…" He stammers and stutters as he tries to form words. "H-how?"

"Look, man, I don't know what you thought was going to happen. All the power over her little pawns? Did you think she would give that up so easily? I knew what it was like to wander and have nothing. Rising to power so soon after… She would be insane to leave all of that behind."

Todd comes in and stands at the door quietly while he waits for Nate to pull it together. Once Nate is as all right as he could be, Todd finally speaks. "Miss Kyra has explained the situation vaguely. Everyone will be informed of your status as distant relative and will not make a move against you or your settlement. However, if you make the first move, she had given us permission to protect our lives and livelihood. If you will follow me downstairs, we have room in the sleeping quarters."

Nate and MacCready follow Todd downstairs to repurposed offices. There were bunk beds lining the wall and a few mattresses scattered about in the middle. Todd motions to the bunk beds that are unoccupied. "I do apologize that we could not get you a better place to sleep, but the upstairs quarters are still being cleaned."

"It's alright, man." MacCready waves off Todd and tosses his things on the top bunk. Nate crawls onto the bed below and turns away from the middle of the room. He was so quiet. He would usually make jokes about places they stayed or tell MacCready about how much nicer it was back then and how awful it was now.

Alfred walks over to MacCready. "Hey. Glad to see you both still alive. Had no idea this guy here was related to the boss," he points to Nate. "Will you be needing an escort back to your settlement? Boss had tasked me with making sure you guys got out of here safely."

"I don't think we really need an escort. Us two guys, we can keep ourselves safe. Nate here is pretty good, even when he's unarmed."

"She also wanted to know if you would be interested in a trade route. We have a lot of weapons and armor that we don't really need. We could do with getting rid of it."

"Nate, buddy?"

Nate sits up and looks over at Alfred. "We don't need to trade with raiders."

MacCready looks over at Nate and then to Alfred with wide eyes. Alfred just smiles politely. "I see. I shall tell her your answer then." Nate turns back to lie on his side, facing the wall. Alfred pulls out a piece of metal. It looked like a police badge. "She told me to give you guys this. If you ever need to come back here, just show this to anyone wearing our gear and they will escort you up."

MacCready holds the badge in his hands. It was definitely a badge from before the war. It was sanded down to have been smooth and then carved into again. It has a skull and crossbones carved into it. The skull and crossbones were the silver color of the metal while the metal around it was stained a red color.

Alfred nods and returns to his bunk near the door. MacCready tucks the badge into his pocket and climbs up to the top bunk. They were supposedly safe, but he slept with his gun in his hands and his back to the wall.

...

[AN: Things are getting interesting, no? Over oiled chairs ruining first impressions, the sole survivor almost getting his arm cut off, the childishness of pouting-yes, all very interesting.

Did you guess who Alfred is? I'll let you know who he is and where he comes from when the next character from that fandom is included. See you next time! RR my wonderful readers!


	4. Snooping

[Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout 4 or any canon characters. I do claim ownership over the very few amount of OCs that appear within the story.

So the encounter with Nate did not go as he planned, and now, everyone begins making their own plans. This is another dreadfully short chapter, by my standards anyways... Without further hold up, enjoy~

"A Guide of the Commonwealth" by an omnipotent Narrator:

8) Always leave if your camp is compromised.

9) Don't get caught snooping. Unless the snooping is for journalism purposes that it.

Chapter 4~ Snooping

"I can feel eyes on us…" MacCready looks around, wondering where the stares come from.

"They weren't allowed to escort us, so now they're stalking us."

"We could have at least let them as a show of good faith. She is your niece, you could have been a bit more receptive to her good will!" The ex-mercenary crosses his arms as he walks beside the sole survivor. "You also didn't have to leave so damn early…"

"The sooner we leave here the better. It's too dangerous here. They could turn any moment and it would be easy for them all to overthrow her and do as they wish to us. We best be out of here." Nate shifts his rifle over his shoulder and picks up his pace a little. The farther away they were from the Skybridge, the fewer eyes were on them.

...

"You're just going to let them go?" Alfred stands behind Kyra as she watches from the bridge railing. She looks down and nods her head.

"If he really is who he says he is… I can't destroy the last bit of family I have left. We will just keep out of Sanctuary and carry on with our plans. I actually was looking over the map, and I want to check out the Island to the southeast. If we keep our base of operations there…"

"We would have to build a new hideout, but we could have more space and we could even grow our own food." Alfred puts a hand on her shoulder and gives a huge grin. "You weren't planning on staying here anyways, and that's why you let them go."

"They can do as they please. If they want to come back here with an army, they will find that we are no longer here. We won't disclose our new location. This is just how it needs to go. I'd like for you to choose someone to settle in Sanctuary. I want someone that can keep me updated on the way they move."

"I will do so right away." He turns and begins walking away. Alfred stops suddenly and turns around. He gives a cheeky grin, "Only if I get my own quarters!"

"We'll see, Alfred." She waves him off, hoping he would just leave and get the idea that she wanted him to do it sooner rather than later. She would have someone that would keep track of Nate, for the most part anyways. They could regroup on Spectacle Island and form a raider hideout better than the one here.

Kyra would need more recruits and she would need to try to unify raiders under a common name. She hoped that they could still be 'Nightmare' even after they unify raiders from all over the Commonwealth.

"Todd?" She calls out from her place on the bridge. She waits a few moments until the slow footsteps she had come to recognize as the old fellow's begin to get closer. "I'd like to start preparations tonight."

Todd nods and then makes his way back to his lab. They all begin to pack up. Kyra packs the few things that are specifically hers before she goes to help Todd with his experiments. They make sure to be extra careful with the bottles of Liquid Nightmare and take extra care in wrapping them with cloth.

They wait until morning to gather all of the other raiders. Kyra stands atop the empty weapon's shack. "Alright guys, appointed people will join Todd on the roof to ride in the Vertibird. I would use it to take us all there, however, this seems to be a one-way trip for the hunk of metal."

There were a few grumbles from the crowd. "Now, now. We won't have too far to walk. We will depart in groups of ten and make our way to the docks. I will oversee the very last group. We will depart based on ranks. Superiors will go first. You have a problem with your spot? You will settle it with a fight. Get into groups now."

She waits ten minutes for them all to fight it out. There were only a few fights that got a bit out of hand, but it was all settled pretty quickly. Kyra watches as her raiders pack up their things and leave in groups of ten. Most of their weapons and what not got to go in the Vertibird; however, most of their personal weapons and armor had to be carried in backpacks or boxes.

She carries a backpack on her shoulders as well. She keeps her ordinary clothes and a few spare weapons in hers. She has a bit of junk too: a gold watch she found, a nearly perfect roll of red silk (it was practically untouched by the war) and a few pieces of ornate silverware. She wore her regular armor and the black Brotherhood of Steel Officer jumpsuit. She liked that her little group had their own uniform of sorts, even if it wasn't theirs in the beginning.

She didn't need to wait long before her group took the lift down to the ground. And made their way to the docks. Gunners and other raider's bodies lie bleeding in the street, showing a clear path the others took. Soon, she was on the last boat heading for the island.

...

Three weeks went by without a word about Nightmare. Everyone was talking, saying that they just vanished without much of a trace. Nate had asked around a little. He actually hoped to get to speak with Kyra again. He wanted—no, needed his family back. She was the closest thing he had to family, and he really wasn't any closer to finding Shaun…

He was in Sanctuary now. He sat in the bar at a table with MacCready and Piper. His ex-mercenary was a little less than conscious after losing a drinking contest to one of the newer settlers.

"I haven't heard much," Piper swirls her drink around in the glass. "I did hear that a girl with silver hair was running around and causing trouble. Sounds like your girl, right?"

"It's something I guess. I just wish that I knew where they were. I want to go back and try to convince her to come back here. I think that you guys would all like her. When she was younger, we would sometimes all go out for ice cream. She would beg us all for double scoop, but her parents wouldn't let her. She would give me the puppy dog eyes until I would buy her a second cone."

"She sounds like she had you under her thumb."

Nate gives a laugh as he remembers his time before all of this crazy stuff. "She had this cuteness that made everyone love her. My brother was quite a bit older than me, so she really wasn't too far away in terms of age. She said that she was about twenty now. Only about five or six years from me now."

"You seem like you guys were really close."

"We were. Her dad was kind of a failure in life. I hate saying that about my brother, but it's true. When she was younger, I got to hang out with her after school. She was always so fascinated with the military and all that. I taught her how to shoot."

 _Teach me how to shoot the squirrels, Uncle Nate!_

 _Fine, but promise you won't tell your dad ok?_

 _I promise!_

"She was so sweet and she was always around. The years she spent here… She's really changed. I think that if she spent time here, away from a war zone, she would act like herself again." Nate sighs and rests his head on the table.

"You said she was about twenty. I don't know if she will ever act like that again Nate. The Commonwealth changes people, but she was a kid then and she is a young woman now. To want her to act like a kid again… I just don't know."

Nate sighs again and gets up. "I'm going to go out. I'm taking Dogmeat."

"I'll hold down the fort for you while you're gone," Piper gives a grin and waves to him.

MacCready sobers himself up enough to walk in the coolness of the night. He left the bar they all built to try and get his head clear of his thoughts. Kyra was on his mind, and not the good way girls tend to run across most guys' minds. He wished that they never went up to the Skybridge. His friend, his best friend at that, was in a slump now.

For the three weeks following their little escapade, Nate had been more gloomy than usual. He drank more than usual too. Both he and MacCready spent nearly every night in the bar. That brings up yet another thing. Nate had not left Sanctuary since they returned. He ventures around the surrounding area, but he doesn't stray too far.

MacCready sighs and leans against the blue house beside Nate's old home. Nobody was taking this house as their own. Nate told them that he wanted both his house and this house on the list of things they didn't take scrap from. The ex-mercenary wanders in and takes a look around. It was like every other house there.

The setup was relatively the same while the damages varied a bit. He walked around until he happened upon a large safe in what he believed to be Nate's brother's room. He quickly got to work and picked the lock. He found a pistol and some cash in the top. The bottom portion had some folders and books. He pulls out one folder and puts it back once he sees that it is labeled as 'Tax Information'.

He pulls out a thick black book and looks at the gold lettering on the front. It's an old bible. He flips through it to see a few passages bookmarked. He gets to the last folder. It's a family album of sorts. He opens the front cover and looks at the first picture. It's a staged photo. There were two guys, a woman and a young child.

He recognized one of the younger men, who looked to be about seventeen. The man next to him was a bit older, but probably by only a few years. He had the same nearly bleach blond hair that Nate did. The woman between the two had long silver hair. In front of her was the young girl. She was probably anywhere from six to ten. It was definitely Kyra.

"Having fun digging through their things?" MacCready jumps at the sound of Piper's voice.

"I just thought that…" He didn't actually know why he was doing it. He just happened upon the safe and thought he would do some snooping.

"Just like a real reporter then? Willing to do something against the rules so that you can get a proper story, right?" She gives a smirk, "Let's get looking through all of this stuff then before old Nate gets back."

[AN: How about that? As long as it's for journalism, snooping is fine. RR!

Still wondering who Alfred is? Just a little longer ;)

My copy and paste is a little shifty and I notice it happens more and more that the ... I use to split up the chapter focus doesn't always show up. I'll be doing my best to make sure it is in there, which means I have to go through previous chapters too. So if I accidentally miss one, I'm sorry. Hopefully I catch it when I read through the next time and am able to fix it.


	5. The Ivy Bushel

[Disclaimer]: I do not own Fallout 4 or any canon characters. I do claim ownership over the very few amount of OCs that appear within the story.

Still a bit short, but at least we are getting there, right? I'd love to hear your thoughts, whether they are in the form of a review or a PM. Criticism helps writers improve their work, and I just want to improve so you have a better experience in the future. Anyways, the main plot is beginning to come along and I think it may just surprise you. I am unsure of whether or not I will have any pairings. I'm thinking about a possible MacCready x Kyra and Nate x Piper, but I'm really unsure at this point. Let me know!

"A Guide of the Commonwealth" by an omnipotent Narrator:

10) There be Deathclaws about in the Lynn Woods! Proceed with caution!

11) Don't trust every settler! If you do, hope you have more endurance than they.

12) Do not set fire to essential items.

13) Warning! Answering loaded questions incorrectly will result in being thrown overboard.

Chapter 5~ The Ivy Bushel

"I think it's come along nicely." Todd beams.

"I guess," Kyra says with a sigh. Their ventures on Spectacle Island were quite easy. She flipped the switch on the reverse beacon to drive the nasty Mirelurks away and used up all of her rockets bringing down the queen. They had started work on proper housing right away.

The three weeks since they left their previous hideout, they set up housing quarters all around the island and a few other structures. Currently, Kyra was sitting atop the watchtower they set in the very center of the island. It stood above all the other buildings by a few stories. There was only room for about three people and it had a small bed in the corner.

"I can see the city pretty well from here. It looks like we will only have to worry about enemies from one direction. How are the food and water preparations going? How is your lab? I can make a trip to the city to get more ingredients for you."

"Everything is going well. In about two weeks, we will have enough food to keep us all well fed. Water is a bit of a problem at the moment, but it's nothing I can't handle. If you're serious about taking another trip inland, I could use some of the mutated ivy from around Lynn Woods. I heard it is very hallucinogenic as well as a skin irritant." He smiles brightly as he explains the effects of the ivy and what it looks like.

"Right," She nods, "Red leaves, yellow vine. I won't touch it with my hands." She stretches her arms and picks up her sword from the bed. "I'll get going now then." She opens the floor hatch and climbs down the ladder.

A short run through the little settlement to her own shack to put on her uniform was the only stop she took before she made her way to the dock. She got on a boat with Alfred in tow. The blond man sighs as they push off and grumbles when Kyra makes him row. She stands on the front of the boat as they go, letting the wind flow through her long silver hair.

"We will rule this pitiful world, Alfred," She turns to look at him with a grin, "I just know Nightmare will rule everything."

"What's with the sudden enthusiasm?"

"The more things I bring to Todd, the farther the progress goes with the weapon. Which town would you like to occupy? You are sort of like my second in command when it comes to fighting. Todd is actually second in command, but you know what I mean." She sits down with a thud, slightly rocking the little boat.

"Either Fort Strong… or maybe Libertalia."

"Whichever one you want, we can try to take that over first."

"I could always stay with you~" Alfred gives a sly grin to her but frowns when he sees the faraway look in her eyes.

"You and I had our moment, Alfred. You are my second in command and it would be unfortunate if I were to throw you overboard for speaking of that time again." Her gaze turns icy as she crosses her arms. Her subordinate gives a shiver before rowing a bit faster towards the shore.

It took them about half an hour to make their way to the shore nearest to the Fallen Skybridge. Kyra hops off quickly and helps tie the boat to a rock. Alfred walks with her into the thicket of the town. They were matching, however, in different styles. Kyra had on her black jumpsuit with the red armor while Alfred had a red jumpsuit with black armor on. They were different outfits, but anyone with eyes could see they were from Nightmare.

"We can make our way to the woods now. Do be on the lookout. I heard that a lot of Deathclaws call that place home."

"Well, let's get movin' then," Alfred gives a grin and smacks Kyra on the shoulder. She gives a growl at him and kicks him in the butt. He just laughs and tries his best to get the dust off before following her further towards the destination.

…

"Nate," Piper calls from her shack. "I just got off the radio. One of my guys said he saw Kyra wandering past Bunker Hill. He said that he heard her say something about Lynn Woods. I bet if you go right now, you could catch up to them."

Nate stands from his chair on his patio and walks over to Piper. "You think I could catch her? I'll go right now then." Nate runs over to his house and grabs a backpack before whistling to his canine friend and running towards the bridge.

Piper stands outside of her home to watch Nate disappear across the bridge. One of the newer settlers, the one that had beat MacCready in a drinking contest walks the same way a bit hurriedly. He stops at the edge of the bridge and looks around to see if anyone had seen him. Piper pretends to be focused on cleaning the front of her house for a few moments until she notices he was gone.

The dark-haired reporter runs towards the bar. "MacCready!" She runs to where he sleeps in the corner of the bar. She shakes him awake, diligently dodging his few swings of surprise he takes. "That guy, he's following Nate to Lynn Woods. I think he might not be an average settler. Go after him!" She pleads for MacCready to check up on the suspicious man.

"Fine, fine." He gets up from the chair and stretches out. "I'll go see what's up with the guy." MacCready walks out of the bar and makes his way across the bridge. He spots obvious shoe prints in the dirt leading into the bushes. He sees a man in a red jumpsuit with black armor bolt out of them and down the path Nate took.

MacCready runs after him a ways until he needs to stop to catch his breath. The guy was fast and seemed to have high endurance. MacCready looks to see him following the same path Nate would use to go that way. He also knew a shortcut to a little farther up and decided to use that ad catch the guy off guard.

He ran as fast as he could to get to a large bunch of bushes. He made it there just in time too. When he looked out of the bushes, he could see the raider running full speed.

MacCready waits until just the right moment before springing from the bushes and grabbing hold of one of the Raider's legs. "What do you think you're doing? Let go of me!" The raider cries out as he tries to get off the ground.

"Not until you tell me why you're following my friend!" MacCready pushes the raider's shoulders down and sits on his back so he can't get up. "Tell me what you're doing. Sanctuary was supposed to be under Nightmare's protection."

"You idiot!" The raider turns over and pushes MacCready off. He stands and backs off a few feet. "I was supposed to be keeping and eye on dear Uncle Nate. Now I don't know where he's gone and Boss will have my head for it!"

"You were just watching us to make sure we were all ok?"

"Yeah! But now I'm dead. You may as well kill me now." He sits down and hugs his knees to his chest. "She's going to kill me. Why did I sign up for this job? I should have just gone with them…"

"You know where they went?"

"Uh, duh. I mean I do keep in contact for the most part—"

MacCready doesn't give him a chance to finish. He pulls out the little badge Alfred gave him. "Take me there. I want to go there now."

"God damn Alfred gave that to you, didn't he?" The raider gets up and takes the badge. "That fool is asking to die. Let's go then. I'll have to escort you." The raider crosses his arms and begins walking down a different path. MacCready follows cautiously, wondering why they hold such high regard for a piece of metal on leather.

It was a long walk to the docks. They had passed Goodneighbor and walked under the old hideout. When they finally got to the docks, both the men were surprised to see Alfred sitting in the boat. "What are you doing, man?" The raider questions.

"Kyra got sick of me, so she sent me back. She asked me to stay here and wait for her. I think she's mad because I accidently set fire to the ivy she had."

"What did she need ivy for?" MacCready wonders.

"Glad to see you back friend. My little token did you some good then. You will still get to come back to our hideout, don't worry. I think Todd needed it. It seemed pretty important. She sure did hit me hard enough for me to think it was important." He rubs his cheek that was slightly red. "Well, come have yourself a seat. Does this mean that your cover was blown, Smith?"

"I guess so. If this guy knows, they probably all do." Smith sighs and takes his seat in the boat.

"I think only one person is suspicious of you. They might know now, since we've been away for so long…" MacCready explains.

"Just wonderful," Smith sighs.

They all turn when they hear the sound of approaching footsteps. Kyra holds a whole plant upside down. All the ivy vines dangle as she holds it by the little stalk. Roots stick up every which way in the clump of dirt.

"Oh, I see we have extras. Smith, your punishment is to hold this plant." She gives a smile and holds it out to him.

"But Boss—" He stops talking once she narrows her eyes and drops her smile. "Yes Boss." He stands to take the plant from her. He notices she wears a glove on her left hand so that she isn't actually touching the ivy. He reaches forward and takes it, being as careful as possible to not touch the leaves.

"I see you are relentless," Kyra looks towards MacCready. "Need I even ask why you are here? I bet it was because of you," She points to Alfred. His cheeky smile answers her question. "You better get going then. I want to be back before sundown. I'll throw you overboard if you piss me off anymore."

"I won't say a word." Alfred gives a chuckle as he rows back towards the more open ocean. Smith does his best to keep the ivy plant from touching anyone, mostly himself. Kyra glares at MacCready and Alfred, switching between the two each time they seem to relax.

Kyra sighs and crosses her arms, "Well, what did you want to talk about? Please don't tell me that you blew my man's cover here for something ridiculous like begging me to come to Sanctuary."

MacCready crosses his arms and looks down to the water.

"You're kidding me right? I mean I told you both that I have a family. I can't settle down somewhere. This just isn't how life is going to work for me. I'm free; I run my own raider group. Even when I unify them all under a single title, I won't be able to settle down."

"This can't be how you planned to go through life, Kyra."

She gives a bitter laugh, "Becoming a cold hearted raider wasn't really what I planned to do with my life, but here I am. My life changed the moment I stepped out of the cryogenic pod. I ditched that blue suit and put on a dead man's clothing. I picked up a gun and never looked back. Never. I met Todd. He took me in and I got to meet his raider friends. I stayed with them since."

"Why can't you try? Nate has been so depressed since we got back. Why can't you try for him?" MacCready practically pleads her. If he weren't in a boat, he would certainly be on his knees with his hands folded. It was pitiful and shameful for someone like him to plead and beg, but this was important. This was for his only real friend in the Commonwealth.

"My life is different now. I could try, but it would just be more painful for him when I leave. Do you really want that for him? Tell me, how different it'll be when I'm there. I'll still steal and murder just like I always do. Wouldn't it be better if I continued to pillage other raiders? Wouldn't it be better if I continued to slaughter the bad guys for my own purposes?"

"She makes a good point, friend." Alfred gives a smile as he continues rowing. "We live a raider life, but we definitely aren't the worst out there. We kill ordinary people when circumstances permit, but we do mostly kill other raiders. Gunners too, actually." He stops talking when Kyra gives a glare his way.

"Thank you for you input, Alfred." She rolls her eyes and sighs. "Look, MacCready, I know that you don't understand. Nobody could understand, just because they have never lived my life. I had a home. I lost everything. Now I have another home—a new family that I usually love," She gives another glare towards Alfred. "Why would I want to give up my own creation of my new life here just so I could be some poor farmer barely scraping by?"

"We aren't really poor farmers. I go out with Nate all the time and fight for his cause." MacCready tried to fight his losing battle. Realization that she may actually like living like this dawns on him. "You really like living like this then?"

"Would you like to see why I live the way I do?" MacCready knew this was a loaded question. He could say no, and he would possibly be thrown overboard. Nobody would ever know that it was Nightmare, since Piper just though the settler was suspicious. What other option did he have, other than to say 'yes'?

"If I stay and let you show me, you will come to Sanctuary for an equal amount of time. So you can understand Nate too." MacCready was straight-faced on the outside but was a pot of jumbled emotions on the inside.

Kyra looks up at the sky for a few moments, placing her finger to her lips as she thinks. She hums a bit as she thinks, as if she were really thinking hard about his counter offer. "I really don't like dirty farm work… As long as I don't have to do that, you have a deal." She holds her hand out to him with a smile.

He cautiously reaches his hand out. Her smile looked genuine, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "It's settled then," She gives a sly grin, one that was easily discerned as a smile with hidden intentions. "Today on, you hold the same status as myself. Congratulations, co-leader of Nightmare."

"Co-Leader?" The ex-mercenary sputters as a question. MacCready isn't sure if he should be worried or excited to run a raider group.

"Man," Alfred gives a jealous sigh, "You are so lucky. Boss here is the most terrifying woman when she's mad, so we always let her do whatever she wants. You have like total freedom if you're going to be like the boss. Her shack is probably made with the nicest things. She has real windows too, like with glass. I don't get glass, and I'm practically her second hand man."

"Third," She corrects Alfred, "Todd is second in command. You know that."

Alfred rolls his eyes. He felt like he was second in command. Todd always seemed like her grandfather, rather than a member in their ranks.

"Welcome to Nightmare," Kyra stands and holds her hand out to the island they quickly approach. She snatches the ivy plant from Smith with her gloved hand. She notices he looks a bit dazed and his eyes are glazed over. "Hmm," She hums as she inspects the plant in her hand. "It seems that the leaves are not the only hallucinogenic part of this plant."

Kyra hops out of the boat, holding the ivy high in the air as if it were some sort of trophy. MacCready follows closely behind her, feeling nervous as all the eyes were on him. Raiders poked their heads out of doors to get a look at him.

...

[AN]: Well, they now have a deal, and Kyra will get to show MacCready all the wonders of her little island and why she loves being who she is. Smith is just an ordinary OC and will not make many appearances, so worry not. However, the next chapter features yet another mystery fandom character. At the end, you will find out who they are and where they are from.


	6. Holotapes and Foreign Affairs

[Disclaimer]: I do not own Fallout 4 or any canon characters. I do claim ownership over the very few amount of OCs that appear within the story.

Past the 3k mark without authors notes and extras, Hurray! Well we are finally getting to the more bulky part of the stories and begin to stray away from Nate. This chapter, along with a few after mostly focus on the Kyra/MacCready dynamic they have going on. More characters are introduced as well as some interesting foreshadowing.

Important Note on the bottom.

"A Guide of the Commonwealth" by an omnipotent Narrator:

14) Respect your leaders.

15) Always treat guests politely.

Chapter 6~ Holotapes and Foreign Affairs

MacCready was actually quite amazed to see the island looking like a real settlement. From the docks, which were large with a boathouse, there were shacks peppered around the sandy area. Planks were stuck in the ground to make a sort of pathway through the little area of houses. The pathway soon leads farther into the center of the island where a large watchtower stood. It was at least four stories tall.

The path split, one leads to the tower while the other leads to the grassy hill overlooking the shacks and boathouse. There was a larger shack at the top. There was a front porch with railing and a nicely made door. The wood making up the walls were close together with no gaps in between each plank. There was a window on either side of the door as well.

Kyra tosses the plant beside the door before entering. She holds the door open for MacCready. The inside was rather bleak. There was a couch and a coffee table in the front room. He could see a kitchen in the back with a makeshift stove and store cabinets. There was a door to the left, which was connected to her room.

There was a terminal on a desk further in the living area in front of a window. There were at least twenty holotapes strewn across the desk. Kyra rummages through the cabinets until she pulls out a large white vase. She goes outside once she fills it with water and places the ivy's base in it.

"It's a nice community, isn't it?" She turns back to MacCready, hoping he would give up now. She holds her hand out to the shacks peppering the sand, "They worked hard for all of these. We have a few of our initiates working a garden. Todd works day and night on the weapon. It's like a settlement with people whose moral compasses point south."

"I do have to admit, the place is a lot nicer than most settlements that I've seen." It was true; the place did look really nice for a raider's island. He didn't see the dark side of the place, however.

"I'm at least a little happy to see that this isn't what you expected." Kyra places the plant down on the porch in its new vase. She sits on the stairs. MacCready sits beside her. "Tomorrow," she begins with a smile, "We have something special going on. You will have to participate as well."

"What would that be?"

"You'll see." She stands once Todd is seen in the distance. "I got your damn plant. Look what we picked up on the way back."

Todd comes up and looks at MacCready, "Good to see you back friend. Going to reconsider the trade route? We could always use some more of the local flora. We would be willing to pay a hefty price too."

"He's here to see how wonderful it is on this lovely little raider settlement. He's going to participate in the fun tomorrow." MacCready is slightly unsettled by the smile that creeps onto both Kyra and Todd's faces. "Well anyways, I want you to send Smith back to Sanctuary Hills with the coded holotapes. He can give them to Nate and then I will explain the situation."

Todd gives a quick nod, takes the ivy plant and returns to the far side of the island. Kyra gets up with a sigh and stretches. She goes inside briefly and comes back with a few holotapes in her hand. "Time to go give an address. I try to do it during dinner when everyone is free."

MacCready follows without much to say to her. All he could think of was how bizarre this all was. He knew the reputations and heard all the stories. He heard all of that, yet here Kyra was, on an island of her own and with people she considered a family. She acted like a real leader, and even if she was a bit unusual, she certainly wasn't as insane as other people made her out to be.

Kyra leads MacCready to the little area where everyone seemed to congregate whenever food was involved. Picnic tables were scattered around and nearly all of the spaces were filled. Some of the men and a couple of women chose to stand and chat around tables that were already filled with others. Alfred sits at one of the tables with the most people crowded around it.

"And I said," Alfred boasts with a loud voice, "You can't tell me what to do! You just want to bring it back by yourself so you can have all the glory! I'll tell you guys, I did all of the rowing, all of the ass-kicking and brought the damn thing back while she twiddled her thumbs!"

The raiders all around erupt into laughter. Kyra clears her throat and crosses her arms, looking at them with a questioning glance. Everyone standing around the table scurries away to anywhere but there. The five raiders squished into the spots around the table fight to be the first ones out of said table. Alfred tugs at the collar of his jumpsuit and laughs nervously.

"Oh, hey Boss. What uh are you doing here so soon? You don't usually get here until after dinner…" He scoots away as she steps closer. He was caught. His complexion was now as pale as ever and he was visibly shaking. Kyra's wide, malicious smile only seemed to make things worse.

"Oh my dear Alfred," She rubs her hands together menacingly as she smiles wider at him. "I wonder what your punishment will be today." She grabs him by the collar of his jumpsuit and drags him out from the picnic table. She turns to the crowd of raiders who now fear for their lives as well. "What should we do with him guys? I'm thinking something… shameful…"

"Strip him!" A loner shouts from the crowd.

"Yes, of course you would suggest something like that Marco!"

"I saw we tie him to a boat and let him sail around the harbor!"

Kyra snickers and shouts, "It's a good idea, but we need him to be alive."

"Your fancy Holotapes, Boss!"

Kyra halts everyone else from talking with a raised hand, "Who said that?"

Another young fellow who looked like he was easily related to Alfred stands up. He has medium length blonde hair and a deep red jumpsuit as well. "I did, Boss."

"Ah yes, my dear fellow Matthew!" Kyra smiles and waves him forward. He's hesitant, as nobody is ever quite sure of Kyra's actions, and is typically even more wary when she wears a smile like the one she has now. "Splendid idea. You shall have the honor of choosing which one."

Kyra reaches into her pocket and pulls out three holotapes. There were two labeled 'P!1' and 'P!2' while the third looked to have been smeared with blood.

"P-one, if you could. 'That Green Gentleman'."

"Excellent choice. I'm relieved to know that these are not punishment for everyone." She smiles and tosses the chosen holotape to a raider manning their speaker systems for the dinner area. "You heard the fellow, or perhaps you didn't because he is so quiet. 'That Green Gentleman'! Alfred, ditch the suit and get up there. You better dance nicer than last time."

She pulls a pistol from Matthew's belt and points it at Alfred's feet. "Come on, boss, you know I was just joking. We all know I was just talking big."

"I should have made you swim back!" She shoots the ground between his feet. He yelps and ditches his armor and then his jumpsuit before scrambling up to the little stage. She gives a thumb up to the fellow controlling the speakers and the music begins to play. It was unlike anything MacCready had ever heard.

Alfred begins to sing in line with the music, although quite horribly and off key:

 _"Things are shaping up to be pretty odd,_

 _Little deaths in musical beds,_

 _So it seems I'm someone I've never met,"_

Kyra shoots into the air to spur his singing a bit more.

 _"You will only hear these elegant crimes,_

 _Fall on your ears from criminal dimes,_

 _They spill unfound from a pretty mouth,"_

After shooting the ground by Alfred's feet to get him dancing, Kyra chimes in as well, making this a duet.

 _"And everybody gets there, everybody gets there,_

 _And everybody gets their way._

 _I never said I missed her when everybody kissed her,_

 _Now I'm the only one to blame._

 _Things have changed for me, and that's okay,_

 _I feel the same, I'm on my way and I say,_

 _Things have changed for me, and that's okay!" *_

They finish the song, and Alfred quickly runs to his clothing and then bolts to the residential area. "I think he's learned his lesson. Can't have some sort of revolt on my hands because he decides he want to be a big shot. Dear Matthew, will you please go check on him? Oh," She hands the pistol back to him, "I owe you some rounds. Do stop by before the events tomorrow."

MacCready clears his throat, "What was that?"

"The whole from the past thing really does have it's perks," she gives a smile as she holds up the two holotapes from her pocket and receives the third from the other raider. "I buried about thirty or so holotapes of all of my favorite music all of those years ago when I got grounded. My father said he was going to take them away, so I hid them. It's a rightly good thing I did."

MacCready still looks at her like his question was less than answered.

"Oh, you mean the punishment. You see, as much as I dislike Alfred, he is one of the best. He very much dislikes my taste in music, saying that it is quite terrible. As harsh as I am with most things, I find it difficult to actually hurt my followers. I'd never shoot Alfred, and Smith will recover from his bout of hallucinogenic ivy. I thought it would be quite fun to have his rebellious nature squished with a song and dance number." She smiles a wide smile that actually seems like a genuine one.

Kyra takes her spot on the stage with MacCready close at her heels. She clears her throat and all in the area are dead silent. It makes MacCready wonder how many punishments of shame they all had to go through before they obeyed her like this.

"Good evening my friends. I hope that you have enjoyed the dinner with a show. I'd like to remind you all: tomorrow's event will have a caps prize. We will be testing a new experiment as well and we will be willing to pay anyone that wants to help us out. Please see Todd before the start to have a deal worked out. I do not have much to report today other than on a new, trial, member."

Kyra has MacCready step forward. He stands proud and confidently in front of the many eyes that watch him with newfound interest—bloodlust-like interest. "As of today, he is the co-leader of Nightmare. He will have the same ranking as I do. If he orders you to do something, you better do it. That being said, if it is something ludicrous or idiotic, do consult with Todd or myself first. Questions? They don't have to be related to this."

One raider stands up and speaks, "What can we expect tomorrow?"

"Relatively similar to last time. There is one secret part for the end, but you could easily guess what it is. There will be music too, so if you have any special requests, bring them to Laura or Cindy. Right? They still do the radio? Well anyways, we also have the experiment, which I'd rather Todd explain because he knows more about it anyways. I can say that it is related to Liquid Nightmare but in a beneficial way."

"Will we have the water purification stations up soon?" Kyra doesn't see who asks, but answers anyways.

"We are working on that now. Todd is working on them and has been since we arrived. The machinery was a bit banged up, but we hope to see more water within the week. With more water, we can get better crops and more food, which means better meals. It is on the top of the list."

Kyra waits a bit longer until it seems that there will be no more questions. "Alright, it seems that it is time to turn in. Please ready yourselves for tomorrow and bring out your best weapons. Our delightful friend Wang Yao will be visiting as well and I expect respectful behavior." She waits until she gets affirmative responses before exiting.

They wander back to her house that overlooks the other houses on the hill. She pulls out some sort of jerky from the cabinets and passes some MacCready's way. The lights inside turn on automatically as it gets darker outside. She spends a while reading with holotapes playing on the terminal quietly. After a while, she retires to her room, leaving MacCready to assume the couch is his own.

He was left to wonder what could possibly be in store for him in the next days. Everyone seemed quite excited to participate and Kyra had in fact given him a new light on things. She was crazy and so were her raiders, but they really did act like one big family. She humiliated them for punishments, but it seemed to have been mostly good-natured. She gave an address and even answered things for them. She even said she would never really hurt members of her 'family'; though MacCready had yet to really see evidence of this.

…

MacCready jumps awake as a loud and obnoxious knocking at the door sounded through the wooden house. "Kyra, we have spotted a few ships to the east!" It sounded like Alfred on the other side of the door.

Kyra opened the door to her room, looking frazzled and tired. She only had on her black jumpsuit; she didn't even wear shoes. She opens the door to regard Alfred with a blank stare. "We think it is Wang Yao. He's early. Todd wanted me to get you right away."

Kyra just gives a heavy sigh and nods, slamming the door in his face and goes back to her room. She comes out looking presentable in all of her red armor and her newly shined black boots. Kyra still looks beyond tired, looking as if she could drop anywhere and fall asleep. "Let's go, co-leader. You have a job as ambassador. Wang Yao is from China. He comes by to visit when he feels like it. He's a fairly interesting man. He does sort of look like a lady though." She snickers at the thought and slowly trudges out of the house.

MacCready gets his boots on and jogs out of the house, seeing her hardly a quarter of the way to the docks. It's easy to catch up to her. MacCready looks to the water to see two large metal ships making way to the docks. The first ship, a bit smaller than the second comes a lot closer, being able to actually bury itself partially in the sandy floor of the ocean to keep itself anchored.

A few smaller boats are let off the back and come to shore. From the first boat to reach the shore, a person with long hair in a ponytail with a bright red mandarin jacket and black pants hops out and immediately makes their way to Kyra. MacCready can see that, though this person does look feminine, they are in fact a him. He stops a few feet away from Kyra and bows. She does the same.

"It is very good to see you again, Yao. We have already prepared a place for you to stay. My associate, Todd, will direct your subordinates there. Will you please join my new friend and myself to the watchtower for refreshments?"

Wang Yao nods and follows them both to the large watchtower, where they have to climb a few flights of stairs to reach the top. Once there, Wang Yao walks around to look at the view. "You choose nice island to make base. I stay while."

"That sounds wonderful. I was hoping you would stay. We are still preparing our weapon, but if it is successful, I'd like to make a deal with you. Now though, let's have something to eat and perhaps have some alcohol." Kyra sits on the floor and holds up a bottle of wine.

Wang Yao sits opposite her on the floor and accepts the bottle, drinking straight from it. He gives a curious look to MacCready. "Ah, yes, I have not yet introduced my friend. This is trial co-leader MacCready. He is visiting my new island so that his view on my followers and ways may be changed."

"Kyra good leader, so you no question her ways." Both Kyra and Wang Yao snicker at this.

"Oh if only it was that easy. I feel like today's events will really sell it. Will you be participating?"

"No, I am not well right now." Wang Yao pulls up his jacket slightly to show bandages around his abdomen.

"Oh dear, what have you done?"

"We encounter another ship outside our harbor. The fight was bloody, but we win."

"Well that means more fun for me! You did bring it right?" Kyra's smile widens when the Chinese man nods. "My men will be so excited. I hope it puts up just as much fight as the last one." She turns to MacCready, "Will you please go get Todd? He should be by the docks still. If you can't find him, then ask somebody else to."

MacCready sighs but does as she asks. Whether she wanted him to go because she was too lazy or because she had something she wished to discuss with Wang Yao privately, he decided it would be best for him to do that. Instead of walking all that way though, he calls over a fellow in an orange jumpsuit with red stains here or there. "Can you please go get Todd and send him to the watchtower?"

The raider nods with a sigh and makes his way there. MacCready leans up against a dead tree to wait for Todd. He looks up at the watchtower. He can see Kyra shaking hands with Wang Yao. Her grin implies that whatever deal she just made is in her favor.

MacCready strains to hear a quiet banging sound accompanied by a muffled roar. He shakes his head as the sickening feeling of what is in store for the day begins to set in.

...

[AN]: Before the reveal of Alfred, Matthew and Yao, I wanted to note that I am going on vacation for the next week. I may write a lot, or I may not get to write at all. Nevertheless, I am putting up this chapter today instead of on Wednesday when I planned to upload it. Maybe if I end up having access to wifi and get a break from having outdoor fun and get a lot of work done, I'll try to upload another chapter. I have also been getting into Daz 3D modeling and I'm going to use that to do some art for this. When I do finish something, I'll make sure to put a link up. Anyways, without further hold up:

As promised - Alfred, Matthew and Wang Yao belong to Hidekaz Himaruya. They are from an Anime called Hetalia: Axis Powers. It was purely coincidental that Alfred had appeared in the story. When I first began writing this, I described Alfred as a blond American that acted just as such. Several months later, this fanfiction was long forgotten when I watched the anime. When I opened this up and read it, I just decided to take a creative liberty and go with it. I will now be adding Hetalia to my disclaimers and will mention down here which countries they represent when new ones pop up.

Alfred: America.

Matthew: Canada.

Wang Yao: China.

*The song used was "That Green Gentleman" by Panic! at the Disco. It's a very good one and I think that it kinda fits along with this story. Just a little anyways.

R&R!


	7. To Catch a Predator

[Disclaimer]: I do not own Fallout 4 or any canon characters. Any characters used from the anime Hetalia belong to Hidekaz Himaruya and will be stated as his after each first appearance. I do claim ownership over the very few amount of OCs that appear within the story.

I'm updating again! My trip is going well, and I even had some time to sit down and do some major editing after my little walk on the beach. Today, I don't see myself doing too much, so I'll definitely be working on the next chapter. Hopefully I'll be updating again during the week, of which I plan to do so on Wednesday. We'll see how that goes though.

Not quite at 3k, but it will have to do. How are you liking the additions of the Hetalia guys? Alfred and Matthew are going to end up making more appearances, but they are such good characters, so how could I not? Anyways, I'd like to know your thoughts, so please do shoot me a PM or drop a review!

"A Guide of the Commonwealth" by an omnipotent Narrator:

16) Do not make references to pre-war television shows in an attempt to entertain oneself at the expense of those without knowledge of said television show.

17) Do not tackle others and bring up memories of the past.

18) "When in doubt, tap out." If your opponent is way beyond you in strength or intelligence and you have no way to win, tap out.

Chapter 7~ To Catch a Predator*

What MacCready thought his day was going to be like was certainly nothing like what was really going to happen. As soon as he heard the caged up Deathclaw, he figured they would do something insane like throw someone in the cage with it, he did not expect for them to call it the main event and hold it on display in the commerce slash eating area.

Raiders chattered happily about what they were going to do. From what MacCready could gather, it sounded like some sick game of hide and seek as well as another game of boxing. Kyra had sat up in the watchtower since Wang Yao had arrived, and ever since MacCready was sent to retrieve Todd, he was not allowed back in.

Now, he watched Raiders gather around the large Deathclaw and try to give it alcohol or poke at it with a stick. Alfred was there too, jumping out of the way each time the beast reached out to grab him. He was the most annoying of them all as he teased the Deathclaw.

MacCready focuses his attention on the speakers that he noticed were posted throughout the island wherever there was any sort of building. It crackled and then Kyra's voice came through. "Good morning all. The event will be starting soon. I'd like everyone not participating to make their way to any building with B-ranking or above. To my missing co-leader, you must participate and I suggest you make your way to the watchtower. Thank you."

Everyone was quick to leave the area for places much safer. MacCready makes it to the watchtower to see Todd, Kyra, Matthew, Alfred, Wang Yao and two other raiders waiting at the base. "Congratulations MacCready. You are part of True Nightmare. Though Todd and Wang Yao are not participating, they still get to be part of our team."

"Glad to have you with us buddy," Alfred slings an arm around MacCready's shoulders and gives a flashy smile. "Kyra is a good sport and she doesn't cheat, so we have to work really hard. Last year we tied with Hell Squad. This year we are going to win for sure!"

Kyra smiles as well. "Let me introduce you to everyone. You know Alfred and Matthew already. This," she motions to a woman with long brown hair and wearing a red jumpsuit, "is Elizabeta. She is the best lady here that can wield a bat."

"This guy here," She points to a quiet and pokerfaced man with dirty blonde hair and a bright orange jumpsuit, "is Norge. Don't let the bright orange fool you. He's got more kills than most people around here, but he never gets close enough to keep a visual record of his kills."

"Right," Todd keeps Kyra from going on, "Please make the announcement and let me go up to the top of the watchtower."

Todd hands Kyra the microphone for a radio. "The time is twelve-o-five, so good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I'd like to thank Wang Yao's crew for being here, and a special thanks to the China Man himself as well. Welcome to Nightmare's Hunt and Destroy!"

Cheering could be heard echoing around the island. "We have six teams today," she continues, "For the first challenge, of which there will be no damage to other humans, we have 'To Catch a Predator'." Kyra snickers quietly, giving enough pause for everyone to know the game. MacCready almost wants to ask her what is so funny about the name of their game, but he decides against it in favor of keeping her insanity out of his mind.

"Today, we will be on the hunt for Mole Rats. There are three with collars. Bring the collar to the watchtower. Until you get it to the tower, it is fair game, so hold onto them. The game begins," She pauses, "Now!"

Todd and Wang Yao go up the tower along with Norge. The rest of them basically stand around and twiddle their thumbs. MacCready finally decides to put an end to her maddening mysteriousness, "What are we waiting for?"

"Norge is looking for the other teams," she points up to the tower at Norge the sniper. "He's going to wait for someone to find a pack of mole rats and then blow their cover. One should know that to catch a mole rat, one does not simply sneak up on it."

Kyra stretches her arms, "How are you with a gun, MacCready? To follow my uncle like a dog out in the waste, you must be worth something. You are my backup. Alfred and Matthew are a sub team. Elizabeta, you stay here to keep watch and don't let anyone turn in their collars. If two teams get there with a collar, have Norge shoot off a flare. If I shoot one back, take a collar from somebody."

"Isn't that cheating?" MacCready questions.

"Of course not. Intuitive thinking and great teammate picking skills." She smiles and gets ready to run, "Well, the best way to catch something is to use bait. Alfred and I are bait. Good luck Elizabeta, Alfred, Matthew. Let's go, MacCready." Kyra jogs off towards the side of the island unseen. She runs through bushes as noisily as she possibly can and yells.

Once they get to a spot where there are fewer bushes and trees beside a small overhang about six feet tall, she stops and draws her sword. She hears some yelling and looks up at the overhang just in time to see Alfred jump off. She screams and tries to back up while Alfred yells and waves his arms. He tackles her to the ground, making her fall on her back and pinning her underneath him.

"Get off you jerk!" She tries to reach her sword that had fallen during the impact.

"Just like old times!" He looks up at her with a big and very suggestive grin. Kyra tries to push him off of her but he just holds her down and straddles her while laughing.

She pulls up her sword from the ground beside her and holds the very tip at his neck, as best as she can anyways as he keeps her arm from moving. He knocks her sword away, "I'm just kidding Kyra."

Matthew jumps down from the ledge and pushes Alfred off of Kyra. He helps her up and moves out of the way quickly as she kicks Alfred in the shin, hard. "Serves you right, jackass. You be careful, or when I take over, I'll send your ass to Jamaica plains!" He visibly pales at the mention of the ghoul-infested place.

"You wouldn't!"

"Wouldn't I?" She crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow. She scoffs at him then and turns away, "I have a collar to claim. Come with or don't." She jogs off with her sword dangling at her hip. Matthew and MacCready are quick to follow. Alfred takes up the rear, trying to keep a good distance between himself and Kyra.

As she runs, she sets her hand on her sword. Just as MacCready thinks to ask what was wrong, a large mole rat bursts out of the ground in front of her. She unsheathes her sword and swings it across the creature all in one motion. It's head separates from its body and lands a few feet away. She readies her sword as everyone around her all freeze in place.

"They're here. Don't let your guard down," Kyra demands. Several mole rats pop out of the ground at once and attack. Alfred pulls out a pistol and starts shooting in all directions, narrowly missing MacCready with a few. Kyra lets out a scream and holds her cheek. She turns to Alfred and smacks him with the blunt side of her sword, "Watch where you shoot! You grazed my face, you ass!"

Kyra goes back to slicing and dicing mole rats.

"I got it!" Matthew holds up a black dog's collar with a golden tag.

"Lovely work, Matthew!" Kyra takes the collar from him and holds it up with a smile. They have a leisurely stroll back to the watchtower to see that they are the first ones to arrive. "Where is everyone else?" Kyra questions Elizabeta.

"Well Radstag Tag over there has been waiting to steal somebody's collar, but once they saw you, they completely backed off. Norge says that Hell Squad is on their way back as well, but Red Suits are following them closely. The Blood Brigade had to give up because their leader was bitten."

"I bet that moron tried to catch a live one," Kyra laughs as she shakes her head at the foolish member's supposed actions. "What about Shinba?"

"Norge spotted them a while back when they were tracking, but we haven't seen them since then."

"I see. Well then let's hand this thing to Todd and relax for a while." She waits for Todd to make his way back down and collect the collar. After they turn in the old piece of leather with tags, Kyra sits in the dead grass and looks up at the sky. "Oh man, I can't wait for our next game!"

"What is your next game?" MacCready plops down beside her.

"It's a variation of capture the flag. Oh," She looks at him with a bit of confusion, "You don't know what that is, huh?" She waits for him to nod. "Well, capture the flag is really fun. You have a flag or item that you put up in your base area and people from the other teams try to steal it. Some people have to stay behind to protect it too, but you have to have a good team balance for it to really work well."

"We love Kyra's games," Alfred butts in and sits between them both, practically squishing himself between them. "She has terrible taste in most kinds of music, but she has such a creative mind when it comes to cool games and fashion ideas! She also knows a lot about things that happen in—"

Kyra elbows him in the side. Alfred leans forward with a groan. "That's enough of that. Anyways, after that, we get to each go into the ring with whomever Todd got to try his new experiment on. We will continue matches until there is only one standing—the person who wins that wins the caps prize. After that, we let the captive loose on the island and the victor who brings it down will get their very own Nightmare Settlement when I take over."

"What if I kill it?"

"I suppose that I will relinquish a settlement over to my dear uncle, if that is what you wish."

"I'm going to kill it for fun!" Alfred chimes in. "Kyra already told me I could have either Fort Strong or Libertalia! I'm thinking I definitely want Libertalia though."

"Well then you better kill him," Kyra gives a soft laugh. "How about when I kill the beast, you get to be my personal maid from now on. I'll even have to buy a French maid's outfit. I wonder if Francis is still kicking. I bet he'd hand make one if I got him the fabrics. My dear Alfred, are you partial to any specific color? I have bright red cloth."

Alfred jumps up and stands behind Matthew, "What a funny thing to imagine, Boss. What a joker you are. Don't worry; I'll be the one to bring him down. I'm the best raider here anyways! Nobody can bring me down!"

"Yes, of course. That is the Alfred we all know and love. Too bad I already know who is going to win. You see, I have already agreed to help this person because they felt I shouldn't just hand a settlement to them. They felt it would be better if they actually earned it."

"Who would that be?" MacCready looks to her with curiosity.

"Tell you and destroy their anonymity? Not a chance."

"Boss," Elizabeta interrupts their conversation, "The other two collars have been turned in."

They all look at the two teams that had turned in collars while they were distracted with talking. Hell Squad and Shinba were the other victors. They looked twice as terrifying as Kyra's team, but MacCready did learn that looks were very deceiving.

Alfred looked like a strong raider who would pledge his allegiance to his leader with his life, but in reality, he had a big ego and was actually quite childish. Matthew had yet to really show his colors, but the stereotype was that the quiet ones were always pretty dangerous. Elizabeta looked like an ordinary and beautiful woman, but her deeply red stained jumpsuit and dented up armor told otherwise. Norge looked like a greenhorn with his beyond brightly colored orange suit; he was the best-disguised killer.

Todd was some sort of mad scientist that posed as a nice old man just doing what his boss tells him. Wang Yao… well he isn't well known, but he does look kind of like a woman and that could be pretty deceiving to most people, especially the drunk guys.

Kyra was the most look deceiving of them all. She looked like a regular young woman. Her acts ranged all over the spectrum from absolutely bloodthirsty totalitarian to childishly cruel to fun loving optimist. She could go from being happy-go-lucky to being unusually cruel, that cruelness being her willingness to shame people into following nearly blindly.

MacCready was the only one who looked like what he was. He was a hired gun whose moral compass was anywhere from Northwest to Northeast. Now he just looked like a man following after some mission to make things right. All he was doing was trying to bide his time so that Kyra had to come back to Nate. He would stick it out through this tournament and tell Kyra whatever she wanted to hear so that she would go back and realize she belonged with Nate and should settle down and turn away from this life as the leader of the most notorious raider group.

MacCready looked up all of the sudden. The whole time he had been here, and even the three weeks they had no idea where Nightmare went, he had not heard of a single terrible thing that has happened at the hands of Nightmare. Sure there was the rumors about Kyra slinking around and causing a bit of trouble, but for the most part, it seemed like they had moved here and kept themselves occupied like a regular settlement. Certainly she was thinking of taking over, but she was doing nothing to move forward as of yet.

But… If she weren't acting now… then she would have something big being planned. With the appearance of Wang Yao, and the secret actions of Yao, Todd, and Kyra, there left a whole part of the spectrum that was completely unaccounted for. She had talk of 'the weapon', but there was nothing that hinted it being very close to completion.

Though MacCready was lost in thought for some time, he had managed to pay attention to their capture the flag game. During the whole thing, Kyra had everyone stay behind at their camp, which ended up being the front porch of her house, to guard the flag while she and Matthew went off to snag the other flags. They won quickly and moved on to the hand-to-hand combat matches.

Their opponents turned out to be a select few raiders jacked up on a different recipe for their signature 'Nightmare Serum'. Kyra explained briefly that Nightmare was to bring out hallucinations of the worst kind of horror while this was to block out pain and ram the mind into primal overdrive to keep from hitting a limit to physical power—to break down the barrier in the brain that keeps people from their full potential in strength.

Kyra was the first person to step down and keep from fighting after spending three minutes in the ring narrowly dodging punches. Her reason was that she could see the effects of the new serum and wished to not have her face smashed in. Everyone else decided to follow her example and instead did rock-paper-scissors for the prize. Elizabeta ended up winning all of the caps and said that she would end up buying a new weapon with it all.

Instead of having people actually fight the experimental raiders, they shoved all of the jacked up fellows in the ring and cheered on as they all beat each other nearly to death. Todd assured everyone that nobody would die and that with a few stimpacks, they would be good as new.

All that was left was the main event. The ultimate hunt and destroy challenge: Deathclaw Discord!

...

Elizabeta: Hungary

Norge/Lukas: Norway

Both belong to the creator of Hetalia and I have no claims to them.

*To Catch a Predator: An American reality television series that features hidden camera investigations. It was devoted to impersonating underage people and detaining male adults who contacted them over the internet for sexual liaisons. People were lured to meet with a decoy under the pretense of sexual contact and then confronted. It ran from November 11, 2004 to December 28, 2007. I will leave you to look up why it was cancelled, or watch the South Park episode about Tourettes or the one about NAMBLA.


	8. Deathclaw and Deal

[Disclaimer]: I do not own Fallout 4 or any canon characters. Any characters used from the anime Hetalia belong to Hidekaz Himaruya and will be stated as his after each first appearance. I do claim ownership over the very few amount of OCs that appear within the story.

Here is the chapter promised for today. The count for actual story is 3200! I hope the story is a little bit entertaining. I promise this isn't all just filler. It is really really important because it shows a different side to our angry and cruel raider leader that has to do with the future chapters. I really enjoy referencing other things, but I will try my best not to do so. If I do, I will make sure to add the information to the bottom. How are we enjoying this so far? Let me know :)

"A Guide of the Commonwealth" by an omnipotent Narrator:

19) Always give your leader the benefit of the doubt.

20) Do not make Zelda references.

Chapter 8~ Deathclaw and Deal

"That's right everyone! It's time to let the Deathclaw go! Remember: always have a buddy! We don't want you to get eaten! Good luck to you all." Kyra hands off the microphone to Todd, and he accompanies Yao up to the top of the tower.

Everyone is visibly tense. Kyra pulls out her sword and swings it around. Alfred teams up with Elizabeta and takes off; Norge takes MacCready by the arm and drags him off closer to where all of the action will be. He sees Kyra's smiling face as she stands beside Matthew. He didn't yet know how, but he knew that she was determined to help the quiet blonde win.

"What are we doing, Norge?" MacCready runs alongside the stoic raider.

"Lukas. You call me Lukas." MacCready doesn't question the man on that.

He does choose to repeat his question, "What are we doing?"

"Bait."

"Again with the bait? Man, I'm getting tired of this shi- crap. You all seem to just know what to do without her having to say it. I know that's supposed to be a good thing with some leaders but this is where I draw the line!" MacCready stops on a dime and crosses his arms.

Norge stops as well and just shakes his head slowly. "We used to have to be told out loud. We were told what to do today. Have you ever looked at her hands when she talks to you? She has been signing directions all morning behind her back or to the side." He begins to walk again.

MacCready follows quietly, deep in thought. It had seemed he missed something Kyra had been doing all along. Had she been giving directions to people she trusted and had them convey her messages? He thinks back to when she was talking on the microphone. Kyra had a hand behind her back. Everyone behind her was at attention.

"What did she say?" MacCready finally asks.

"I have no idea. It is some lost language. She only taught it to Alfred and Matthew." MacCready looks back at the tower with a questioning look, wondering what it was that she was planning. That is when he saw her, standing atop the roof of the watchtower in all of her glory. Her long silver locks swish in the air in contrast to her dark jumpsuit. Her sword gleams in the light. She looks straight toward them.

MacCready tears his eyes away from her when he hears the deafening roar and feels the vibrations of the deathclaw's heavy footfalls. He realizes just then that Norge had been yelling at him, "Run towards the tower!" MacCready turns to see the Deathclaw with its eyes trained on him.

This was the 'oh shit' moment when most people find their second wind and sprint like there is no tomorrow. MacCready, however, turns towards the beast and delivers a shot right at it. The bullet clinks against its teeth, knocking some out but otherwise has little to no effect on it. MacCready turns and runs now, following behind Norge.

They finally reach the tower. MacCready runs inside but Norge takes a run to the side, leading the Deathclaw in a full circle around the tower. Just as the Deathclaw reaches the entrance again, Kyra drops from above and buries her sword in its shoulder.

She hollers, "Shit! I missed! Plan B!" She covers her face and steadies herself on its back. Matthew runs in from some bushes and opens fire on its exposed belly. Kyra pulls up a syringe filled with yellow liquid. She stabs it into the soft part under the deathclaw's neck.

"Lead him to the mark!" She calls out.

Matthew shoots at the beast and runs past the tower to the sandy beach. Norge and MacCready follow a safe distance behind. Kyra wrenches her sword free and falls off. Norge is quick to catch her and help right herself before continuing to run to the beach.

Matthew runs through a large circle drawn on the sand and turns around once twenty feet from it. He pulls out a black box with a gleaming red button. As soon as the Deathclaw is in the middle, he presses the button.

A mass explosion throws all who are unprepared off of their feet. Kyra stands firm and just uses her arm to shield her eyes. Matthew does the same, knowing exactly how powerful the explosion would be. MacCready looks up from his place in the sand to see her walk towards the fallen beast. She gently nudges it with her foot and then pulls out her sword.

She gets down on one knee and holds it out to the timid blonde who now has a smile nearly a mile wide. He can hear her words, "It's your kill, Matthew. Your plan worked brilliantly. You get to do the honor."

Matthew holds up the sword in a valiant show of power and drives it deep in the deathclaw's already bloody chest. It lets out a roar as its last cry into the world. Matthew pulls out the bloody sword and holds it high in the air. MacCready notices that more people have gathered and several are getting off the sand, having been present for the explosion.

They all hold up their hands and cheer. Alfred runs over and hefts Matthew on his shoulders to prance around and holler with joy at his companion's victory.

"Which one shall be yours?" Kyra hollers to the celebrating men.

Matthew calls back, "The airport!"

They all cheer again. Kyra yells with her hands raised, "Your request is granted! Free booze for us all! A good day indeed!"

Matthew tosses Kyra's sword back to her once he realizes the Alfred is not going to let him down and is instead taking him to the building they keep all the alcohol. The sword sticks in the sand. She makes no move to pick it up and decides to stand by it and look at the crowd of excited Nightmare Members.

She turns back to MacCready, "You're not going to join them all? You are co-leader still."

"You missed on purpose." He looks to her sword, which was rumored to hold the most deadly accuracy of the commonwealth. She pulls it from the sand and gives a shrug.

"Maybe I missed because I didn't need to win. Maybe for morale's sake, I let one of my most trusted members take down the beast. Perhaps I didn't miss on purpose."

And for the millionth time, MacCready found that he had no idea what was going on behind her eyes when they adopted a faraway look. She shakes her head gently to rid herself of thoughts and pulls her sword, hanging it on the holster at her hip. "Let's go get some drinks. I think I need something to numb the realization that I am losing members to other settlements left and right."

"You don't want them to leave and keep watch over other things?"

"I had a spy sent to Diamond City a long while ago. He was my first 'second in command', even higher up that Todd. He's a guard now. He never came back. I went there personally to confront him. He liked it there better. I trust Alfred, and I trust Matthew, but I worry that the more freedom I give everyone, the more family I lose. What happens when Alfred gets to watch Libertalia? Sure he will still be under my orders, but what if he doesn't care to see me? What if Matthew doesn't come by for music night? When will I stop losing the people I love?"

She cries openly, letting her tears fall down her cheeks. She presses her arm to her eyes to stop the tears as she grits her teeth. "They will all leave me one day like my family. Sure my mother left because she died, and aunty Nora as well, but people like my father had abandoned me. Now, I'm pushing my family away in a subtle way so they can better themselves and all I can do is sit behind and wish the best for them, but surely… surely this can't be what this is supposed to be like…"

MacCready places a tentative hand on her shoulder. "They won't forget about you. Nate leaves sometimes for a long time. He leaves me behind at Sanctuary, as he does with a few others, but he always comes back. I've seen the island enough to know that these guys all care for you. They won't forget you because you won't forget them."

Kyra smiles and looks up at MacCready, "You… you really think so?" He nods. "And you like the island? You won't try to force me out of this life? You won't let Nate?"

MacCready sighs, realizing now that her outburst with tears may have been a step in her plans to get him to stop hounding her about changing her life. "I won't force you to do anything, but you still have to come to Sanctuary for two days because I will have stayed here for two days by tomorrow morning."

"A deal's a deal. We can leave tomorrow. Smith should have gone back to Sanctuary with the coded tapes and radio. I believe it is time to start up with making a deal. Care to join me?" She wipes her eyes one last time and composes herself completely before starting off to her home with her head held high.

Once inside, she sets up her little radio and tunes it to a coded channel. "This is the leader of Nightmare, Kyra the Killer. I'd like to set up a radio meeting with he who calls himself the Sole Survivor."

"Greetings, Boss. Mr. Nate is on his way over right now. I've done as you have asked."

"Wonderful, Smith. Do stay there for the time being until we can arrange a more equipped team to occupy a sort of post there. Granted that relations and negotiating go well."

The radio is silent for a while until Nate's voice comes in clear. "Hello, Kyra. I understand that MacCready is there to enjoy the sights for a while. You will be by here too as well?"

"That is correct. As per my agreement with MacCready, I shall stay there an equal amount of time that he has been here. I will be departing tomorrow to come to your Sanctuary. I do have terms of my own though. I get to bring two guards. It isn't that I don't trust you… but I have been living in the wastes a lot longer than you have." She taps her fingers on the table slowly as if contemplating anything else. "Ah yes, and I despise dirty farm work and will have no part in that."

"Let us think over your conditions."

She waits and polishes her sword in the meantime, gently cleaning off the dried Deathclaw blood. "My conditions were not too demanding were they?" She looks up at MacCready with innocent eyes, as if this was all some honest thing she were doing.

"I think they might have a problem with you bringing guards, because most people really seem to dislike your group. I think that caravan you blew up might have something to contribute to that. The news about you all spread pretty quickly once people found out that we visited you."

The radio crackles and she turns her attention back to it. "We agree to your conditions; however, they cannot bring anything more than a pistol and a melee weapon. This is to prevent the other settlers from panicking and accidentally shooting someone. Is this agreeable?"

"Indeed it is. We will leave at first light. I believe with a steady pace, we will arrive some time around three post-meridian. I expect this to be a peaceful tour. Do not make me take action."

She turns off the radio before Nate could reply back. "It seems as though we have a long hike tomorrow. If you would, please wait here. I am going to collect my two guards before they get too drunk."

Kyra leaves MacCready to brood alone in her home as she wanders around her island in the fading daylight. Her first stop is to Todd's new laboratory. It was on the very far side of the island beside the workshop with the Reverse Beacon and controls for that. On the outside, it looks like a completely normal little metal shack. The door was usually open and there were the normal furnishings of a shack: a bed placed in the corner, a small table and chairs to act as the dining area and a small workspace. Todd even had the same Luxury as Kyra in that they had a quick walk to a very nicely made outhouse that was dug so the waste just runs through the hole in the ground to a tunnel of sorts that lead to the ocean.

Kyra knew Todd was home, as she could see the faint light outline a square in the middle of the shack. She knocks on the hatch a few times and then opens it. The underground laboratory was nearly as big as her own room, which was about twenty feet by twenty feet with an eight-foot space between the ceiling and the pressed dirt flooring. It was very bright, as the string lighting did its job to light nearly every inch of the place.

There were desks and tables all around with several plants in pots. Todd stands bend over a chemistry set on a large metal table, mixing different vials of red liquid with powders of varying colors. He turns to look back at Kyra with eyes hidden behind goggles. He smiles and speaks quietly, "I'll be with you in just a moment. I'm making a few changes to the experimental serum we tried today. They looked like they were still in a bit of pain when they fought, so I want to try to block that out a bit more."

"Ah yes, I did notice that as well. Please do take your time." She takes a seat at one of the tables. She looks around a bit. "Todd? Didn't you used to have a cat?"

"Cindy? She passed away last month. I was thinking about getting another. If you see any in your text trip to the mainland, do bring it back."

"Ah, so a trip is what I wanted to talk about."

Todd stops his work and stands up all the way. He removes his goggles to look at her with surprise and worry. "Where are you going?"

"Well I do still have that deal with the mercenary. I'm going to take Alfred and Matthew with me. They are my best men and I could use a good guard squad. I think they won't mind a trip anyways. I can see that some of the guys here are getting restless. I'll be gone likely for a week, spending two days there and then a few days scouting around and planning for the invasion. You lot could do something as well."

"Which settlement would you like us to collect from?" He gives the usual question, figuring she would want him to send some of the best to go terrorize a settlement or take out another raider group, or even pick a fight with the gunners again.

"Actually, I have something a bit different in mind, if that would be something you could do?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"The ruined cement structure a ways from here, you know which one I'm talking about. I want you to send some people to take a look at it. I think it would be beneficial to have something on the mainland as well so that we can have forces ready to mobilize at a moment's notice."

"I think we can do that. I'll have a team to scout it tomorrow and go from there. I will hold down the place in your absence. Be careful on your journey." Todd smiles and holds up a small holotape. "I finished that little game you gifted me. I believe I have something to say."

Kyra takes the holotape back from him before he rummages around underneath a few different workspaces. He returns with a swirling glass ball filled with red and black swirling liquid. "It is dangerous to go alone. Take this."

"You did not just do that." She takes the glass orb from him and looks at it in awe.

"I did. This is my latest version of Liquid Nightmare. I think I may have actually cracked the formula this time. I have done a few tests with a smaller amount and as soon as this breaks open, it will turn to a gas. It may not work, so always have a backup plan."

She hugs Todd tightly, "I'll be safe. Alfred and Matthew will be there, and I can take care of myself anyways. Just make sure to keep Yao occupied. He talked about staying here for a while. If he gets bored, you can take him over the Combat Zone. They will let you guys in as long as you pay. I doubt he will be up early enough to see me off, so if you could go into my things and bring out the bright red silk I've been keeping. I'd like to give it to him as a gift—a thank you for coming here and bringing the Deathclaw."

"Of course, Kyra." Todd waves to her as she leaves, smiling all the way.

Kyra makes her next stop to the commerce slash dining area. There was cheering and crashing which was both a good and a bad sign when it came to drinking. She walks to the crowd of raiders to see them all slowly part for her. Once she gets through the crowd, she can see that they have all made a ring to watch others fight. Alfred nimbly dodges Elizabeta's newest weapon: a frying pan.

Kyra steps out farther and the cheering stops. Both Elizabeta and Alfred stop as well. "I am sorry to cut the fun short, but I need to collect Alfred. Matthew? I need you as well." She ignores the several catcalls and remarks from the crowd wondering why one guy wasn't enough. She waits until Matthew comes to the front of the crowd to stand beside her. Kyra waits until someone else makes a remark about her actions behind closed doors.

Kyra points to the man, a middle aged fellow with dark brown hair. "I nominate that guy to take Alfred's place." She gives a nod to Elizabeta and watches for just a few moments as she chases him around the ring. She gets in one good swing with her frying pan before Kyra turns away with Alfred and Matthew in tow.

"What did you need us for, Boss?" Kyra looks to Matthew and smiles. It unnerves him greatly to see her so happy, even if she did just silently sic Elizabeta on a poor greenhorn.

"We are going on a little vacation."

...

[AN]: We are starting to get to the real reason for why Kyra is the center of the story in the first place. All will be revealed quite soon! R&R!

Do you like the story? I write whatever comes out of my mind with almost no outline. Most of this is very spontaneous, so it may run a little fast. Or maybe it is going slowly. Please do tell me your thoughts! Have a nice day!


	9. Return to Sanctuary

[Disclaimer]: I do not own Fallout 4 or any canon characters. Any characters used from the anime Hetalia belong to Hidekaz Himaruya and will be stated as his after each first appearance. I do claim ownership over the very few amount of OCs that appear within the story.

Wow, I have been gone for a while and I am so very sorry about that. I'm not going to lie here; I've been binge playing skyrim and it has effectively taken over my life. Well anyways... yeah.

We finally get to have another meeting with Nate! Things start to get wild and more is revealed about Kyra. Alfred and Matthew have become a pretty important part of this story, so do not expect them to go away. Tell me how you like it! Or tell me how you dislike it and why. I always want to make my fan fictions better and the only way for me to know how is to hear feedback.

"A Guide of the Commonwealth" by an omnipotent Narrator:

21) Do not break down in front of gas stations inhabited by settlers.

22) Do not go crazy and hurt your friends. Side note: Don't run through settlements like a madman!

23) Always be close with everyone. It makes it difficult for others to find out who you really like.

24) Never pull a girl's hair. Results vary but are usually end in violence.

Chapter 9~ Return to Sanctuary

Kyra had never hated travelling so much before. The boat ride and the hike to Sanctuary took no time at all, and she was quite used to trekking all over the place. It seemed that her companions had yet to ever give her a real break with their constant whining.

Alfred was first to voice his complaint about how quickly they were walking. MacCready was first to tell him to shut it. It all went to shit afterwards. Kyra was lucky to have Matthew to keep her from turning around and absolutely murdering them both.

Though, after hours of the complaining and the arguing, they made it to the Red Rocket Truck Stop just outside of Sanctuary. There were a few settlers there, pumping water from the ground and using it to water mutfruit plants. Kyra stops on the road and watches for a few moments, looking around the place that had changed a bit since she had last been there.

Gone were the rusted cars and piles of rubble. In their places were a few shacks, tables, chairs and crops. Kyra just looks in awe and heartbreak. Though the place had changed into a better version with people living there, it was still a reminder of the war. The truck stop that she would skip to on a Saturday afternoon to purchase candy from was still in shambles. Never again would she slap a twenty on the counter and ask for as much candy as she could get.

As she thought of all of this, she had not realized that she slowly slid to her knees as tears dripped down her cheeks. Both Matthew and Alfred were at her side in an instant. Matthew had a hand on her shoulder while Alfred hugged her tightly from his spot on his knees beside her.

Both of the boys look back to give MacCready death glares. He takes the hint and walks further down the road and leans against some large boulders, trying to situate himself in the shade.

Kyra wipes her tears away and speaks, "I never wanted to come back home. I saw how terrible it all was. Everything changed so much in the two hundred and five years I was underground. It broke my heart to see it in such ruin—to not understand what and why. That Mr. Handy my uncle bought told me that I was welcome to stay in their home that he had been taking care of."

She breaks down in another fit of sobs, "It was so ruined! My house was ruined! The air hurt my lungs and the bright sun hurt my eyes. People tried to kill me! Giant bugs tried to feast on my newly thawed brains! I had to wear clothing I found on a dead guy!"

Matthew kneels down beside her as well and whispers, "It's going to be alright. That was all in the past. Now, you are the fearsome and fearless leader of Nightmare."

"Yeah!" Alfred shouts, making both Kyra and Matthew jump. "What is my fearless leader doing? She is crying on the ground. Get up, Boss!" He stands and hauls her up as well. "My leader isn't afraid! My leader isn't sad! She's cruel and bloodthirsty! She stares danger and Deathclaws in the face and laughs! She rules upwards of sixty raiders and runs her own island!"

Kyra smiles and wipes her tears away, giving a last few sniffles as she composes herself. "You guys are absolutely right. I won't let these broken down buildings run my life. I'm going to stand strong!" She marches off towards Sanctuary with newfound pep in her step.

She did walk with pep in her step until she saw the high wooden walls surrounding her neighborhood. She was then reduced to sobbing on the ground again. Again, Alfred and Matthew try their best to give her a pep talk and get her to stand up and go in there like the leader of Nightmare.

"Kyra," She turns to look in the direction of the voice she longed to hear for the years after she escaped the vault. Nate stands before her in his casual t-shirt and jeans. "It's difficult for me to look at every day. It isn't like it used to be."

Alfred Stands up suddenly and places himself between Nate and Kyra. Matthew hugs her close as she sobs. "It isn't fair!" She cries out in anger and grief. "I wanted to finish high school! I wanted to go to college! I wanted to become someone of great power, just like mom always dreamed for me to do! I never got to do any of it!"

"It's alright," Matthew coos at her. "Everything will be ok."

"No it's not!" She wiggles free from Matthew's hug and stands. She takes a few steps back, shaking like a leaf. MacCready, Nate and Alfred all reach for her at the same time with comforting words. In a flash, her sword narrowly misses each of their outreached hands. She screams in rage and anguish as she swings her sword around like a maniac.

"That's enough!" Matthew steps forward and catches the end of her sword. The serrated edges dig into his flesh. Blood runs down her sword and drips to the ground.

Kyra screams in horror and drops her sword. She turns and bolts into the neighborhood. MacCready follows after her. Nate and Alfred rush to Matthew's side. Though her sword did not dig very deep, the cuts are enough to make Matthew silently cry with the pain. Nate pulls out a few stimpacks and helps Alfred administer them.

MacCready follows the sounds of chaos and screams until he spots Kyra run into her house. Once he gets there, he sees the inside even more wrecked than the last time he had been in there, clearly showing the effects of her manic rampage. The back door swings open and closed slowly. MacCready walks out to see her running up the hillside at nearly full speed.

"Fuc- err I mean... you know what, Fuck! She runs fast!" He follows after her slowly, not being able to match her speed in her current state. He waits patiently for the gear shaped elevator to return to the surface before pressing the button to send it back down.

The inside of the vault was borderline freezing. The space under the entrance walkway had nearly two feet of water accumulating there. MacCready wanders around for a long while, trying to find Kyra. He has no luck at first. He spots an open pod, but upon further inspection, he looks to see Nate's late wife, or that's who he guesses she is, considering the bullet wound and having seen a very young photo of her.

MacCready turns around when he hears a strangled sob. He wanders through a few halls to see another set of cryo-pods. Kyra lies on the ground in front of a closed pod. She lies in the fetal position, hugging her knees close to her as she cries harder than before. MacCready walks closer to her, looking at all of the long dead people still frozen and looking as youthful as the day they went in.

He doesn't say anything to her. Instead, he just sits beside her and pats her shoe a few times to let her know that he was there. He made no move to do anything afterwards.

He hadn't done anything until he began to feel the chill in the air, realizing that the open pod Kyra had come from had been freezing the inside of this room for a long time. There was ice in some spots of the floor and the ceiling dripped every so often. Kyra had long since stopped crying but still stayed in the same spot on the floor.

MacCready hauls her up, worrying when she is completely limp. He helps her sit up and takes his duster off to wrap around her. She sniffles and tries to stifle her crying. "You're going to be fine," He tells her. He rubs his hands up and down her arms to try to warm her up.

"Everything is so different. My neighborhood is dead. My house is ruined. My mother is a popsicle." Her voice breaks with the last sentence and she cries again. She tries to talk between her sobs, "I ha-h-have no family or f-fr-friends. M-mom is dead!"

"Kyra!" She looks up when she hears Alfred's voice echo through the halls.

"That guy is your friend," MacCready laughs. "You have family. Nate is alive. Shaun is alive. You have your entire island."

"You're right." She stands and hands him back the duster. "Alfred!" She calls back to him. Not two seconds later does he come sliding past the door on some ice and crashes into one of the utility rooms further down.

"I'm alright!" He calls.

Matthew walks in the door after giving a glare at his friend. He embraces Kyra and holds her tightly. His hands were wrapped in clean white bandages. He pulls away from her to dry her tears with the gauze. "Are you alright?"

She looks at his bandaged hands and carefully takes them in her own. "Are you alright? How could you do something so insane?" She hugs him tightly and hides her eyes in the crook of his neck, shaking her head and muttering about how crazy he is. Alfred comes up and throws his arms around them both. Nate stands in the doorway with a smile. Though this place is a source of sadness for Nate, he can't help but smile at his niece and her two greatest allies.

After everyone began to realize just how cold it was in the underground freezer, they all decide to take a trip back up to the surface. Kyra walks with Alfred's arm over her shoulders and one of Matthew's bandaged hands carefully in her grasp. All of the settlers were hiding away in their respective homes or the bar after having seen Kyra's terrifying rampage.

They all walk around the little settlement, and Kyra gets to see their little shops, tavern and agricultural things. She giggles with glee like a little school child when she gets to pat Trashcan Carla's Brahmin on one of its noses. Its disgusting and slobbery sandpaper tongue makes her let out a childish squeal as it wraps around several of her fingers.

"I've never been so close to one before. The caravan guards always shot at me before I could get close enough." She turns back towards the mutated cow, "You're like a ghoul huh? You're so friendly! So many adventures you must have been on with your owner."

Nate got to watch as his borderline criminal niece returned to her excited childlike state from before the war. He could see the extreme wonder in her eyes and the happiness he thought was surely extinguished during her trek around the commonwealth and her rise to power. Matthew and Alfred were right alongside her to enjoy every moment as well. They laughed and giggled right beside her.

It was like the war had never happened. Kyra was still a young teen with two of the neighborhood kids. It was like the time they went to catch tadpoles in the stream. She would giggle and laugh and run around with her bottle of tadpoles, screaming to the other kids that she was the tadpole queen.

Nate made sure to give a pointed look towards Piper, who had earlier said such a thing was impossible. The reporter came up and rested a hand on Nate's shoulder, "You were right, Blue. She's like a carefree kid. She doesn't worry about raiders, gunners or the institute. She just laughs and has fun with others."

"She was like a sister. She was never my niece. I was there to play with her and supervise when she wanted to play with the other kids. I was always there, right beside her. I wish I were there when she came out of her pod. She must have been so scared."

"I was scared." Kyra stands before Nate with her arms crossed. "I came from that pod choking. I thought I was dying. The pods in my flat were malfunctioning. Everyone else was dead—my mother, Mrs. May, Dr. Thomson. I wandered around until I happened upon giant bugs. I ran and ran. They ripped my vault suit. I used that pip boy to open the door but my dumb ass left it behind."

"I stumbled down the hill and into the neighborhood. I ran into your Mr. Handy. He told me that it had been more than two hundred years. I freaked out a bit. I ended up taking clothes off a rotting corpse and hid away in the gas station. I didn't know what to do, so I just got up and started walking. I was numb to the world around me. My second in command slash advisor, Todd, found me."

"It was getting close to dark. I was just looking for a spot to curl up for the night when he popped up behind me. He scared the daylights out of me and I was lucky I found a pistol earlier on because I started shooting until I was out of bullets. He took me in. He was just a common raider. In the years that followed, I rose to power, gave the brotherhood a hell of a time and started gaining recruits like those two," she gives a thumb over her shoulder at the two young raiders fawning over the Brahmin.

"I apologize for freaking out. I left here while I wish still in shock. This is my first time returning after doing my best to forget about it all."

Nate pulls her in for a hug, "You don't need to say sorry. You're back now, even if it is just for a little while. You being here is the best thing I have ever had in this awful world." Kyra awkwardly pats him on the shoulder until he lets her go.

"It's so weird to know that I am five years older and you haven't changed at all." She laughs and runs a hand through her hair.

Nate walks behind her and takes a large bunch of her hair in his hands, "You grew it out like you always wanted. Your mother would be so proud."

"You think so?" She pulls some in front of her to look at. "To be honest, I just don't trust anyone to stand behind me with a pair of scissors… Long hair in combat is dangerous, in the way, and difficult to manage." She swishes it around, "But I guess it does look great."

Alfred walks up and tugs her hair before bolting off. Kyra yells after him and is hot on his heels. Nate, Piper and Matthew laugh at their antics. MacCready rolls his eyes. He doesn't believe a word of what she says. Sure she cried earlier, but now she seems too calm and too childish. Back at the island, she would have been all seriousness with a side of cruelness. Never would he think that a twenty-year-old would chase someone of the same age around like they were five.

Kyra finally catches Alfred and jumps on his back, pulling his hair and trying to balance as he stumbles around while trying to shake her off. She squeals and giggles like a child.

MacCready watches and finds himself beginning to smile as well. His thoughts that she was doing this all for nefarious purposes quickly vanished once he realized that she must have always been like this when away from her subordinates because she acts so happily with Alfred and Matthew. If she were putting up a façade, then they would be just as suspicious as he. Instead, Alfred happily chases her and engages in roughhousing while Matthew giggles and calls to them from the sidelines.

Eventually, the two make their way back over and both tackle the quiet raider standing out of their fun, rolling around on the warm asphalt with him. Nate comes to sit beside MacCready. "She's wonderful, isn't she? She's just like I remember."

"She's always been insane?"

"She was always a tomboy. Here she is, wrestling in the middle of the street just the same as she used to tackle the boys in the stream. Who are these two by the way?" Nate didn't seem to remember Alfred.

"Alfred and Matthew. They are her second and third in command. From what I have gathered, she and Alfred used to be together or something. I think those two are brothers also."

"I see." Nate cracks a grin, "She's grown up so much. I will get to have 'the talk' with the boys about how they will suffer if they let my darling get hurt."

"Man, I think you're just as crazy as she is. I swear, it runs in your whole family. You must be a bunch of crazy people all bent on taking over the world. She wants to rule the world with her raiders and you want to take over with farming and building houses." MacCready shakes his head slowly, realizing that he was traveling with Kyra's brand of crazy all along.

"I wish she was able to stay. What was it like while you were there?" Nate's eyes shine with wonder and curiosity. MacCready takes a look at the three raiders of Nightmare lying on their backs and challenging each other to a 'stare at the sun' contest.

"My first day there, was a short one since I got there a little before sun down. Alfred was bragging about some shi- er crap about him doing all of the work while she did nothing. She made him strip and perform a song and dance in front of all of the others. She played something about…" He thinks for a few seconds before quietly singing a few words from the song, "Things have changed for me, and that's okay."

"Oh, I know what song you are talking about. It sure does go along with her life now. Sorry, finish telling me."

"After she was done shaming him, she introduced me as her trial co-leader and then answered community questions. The next day, a Chinese guy came with two ships. They seem to be really good friends. He looks like a woman. Anyways, they were all getting ready for 'an event', which was a big thing with six teams." Nate nods, hanging onto every word.

"The first game they played was called… To catch a predator—"

Nate bursts out laughing and rolls around on the cement. "She didn't call it that!"

"What is so funny about it?"

"Pre-war humor! Oh dear god!" He laughs a bit longer before calming down and listening to the rest of what MacCready has to say.

"We had to hunt mole rats for a prize collar that we had to turn in. Three teams moved on. We played something called capture the flag. We ended up winning that. We were supposed to fight against a few raiders jacked up on experimental drugs, but Kyra decided it was too dangerous. They played… she called it 'Roshambo' for the prize. The other woman in our group won. Afterwards she put all of those guys in a ring and let them beat the snot out of each other."

"Afterwards, they set a Deathclaw loose on the island and she used a guy named Norge—he told me to call him Lukas—and me as bait and had us lead it to the tower. She tried to kill it but 'missed' and then Matthew blew it up and delivered the final blow with her sword. The winner was allowed to choose a settlement or area that would have been his or her own."

"She really is a good leader," Nate muses. "She uses her pre-war knowledge to keep them all under her. She uses her pre-war mind to cook up punishments that really aren't and she keeps them all entertained with games they haven't ever heard of." He smiles, "What a wonderful leader she is."

...

[AN]: Not such a tough person after all... And I will have her be close with everyone to a certain point just so 1) I can pair her with whoever when I decide and 2) because it adds to the tension and love reading other works like that. So I'd like to know what you guys think is going to happen next. Here she is, acting like a broken woman and then a happy teen. Will she show more of her happy side or will the years in the commonwealth return her to her wasteland mindset? See you next time! R&R!


	10. Two Minds

[Disclaimer]: I do not own Fallout 4 or any canon characters. Any characters used from the anime Hetalia belong to Hidekaz Himaruya and will be stated as his after each first appearance. I do claim ownership over the very few amount of OCs that appear within the story.

This is a pretty long chapter. There is a lot to take in and I really hope this isn't too squirrelly and all over the place. I will have a bit of information down on the bottom to explain a bit of this a tad further. So this chapter also explains quite a few other things that may have been a bit odd, like the way Kyra treats others.

"A Guide of the Commonwealth" by an omnipotent Narrator:

25) If you do something slowly enough or just are horrible at it for long enough, someone else will do it for you. Or shoot you.

26) Good reporters always take blackmail photos.

27) Let sleeping lions lie.

Chapter 10~ Two Minds

The rest of the day, Kyra, Alfred, Matthew and Nate clean out the blue house beside Nate's. Kyra decided that she would visit whenever she was in the area. They managed to get the old junk dragged out and kept all of the salvageable things where they used to be. All that was left was to put in a few new pieces of furniture to replace the destroyed pieces and for her to add her own personal touches.

"Are you sure you only want one bed?" Nate gives her a concerned look then he looks back towards the two guys arguing over the best way to drag the ruined couch out.

"Yeah. One bed is good. Alfred, Matthew and I can share. I don't mind. I can use the extra space for an office or maybe I'll find some other use for it. How many caps will you want for a queen bed? I noticed that all of the other beds were twin beds… I can pay extra…" She fishes around in her pockets for an ample amount of caps.

"Kyra," Nate sternly says her name, "Please don't pay me. This is your house. It isn't a problem to refurnish it for you."

"Thank you, Uncle Nate. Please excuse me for a moment." She turns and fires her pistol at the couch stuck halfway in the door. "Can you two do nothing? Turn it sideways!"

Matthew calls back, "That is what I kept trying to tell him!"

"We can talk later, Nate. I'm going to help these two clueless idiots. I promise I'll make this all up to you." She walks over to the couch and shoves Alfred aside, helping Matthew to finally get it through the doorway. "Useless!" She calls out to Alfred. He just gives her a grin and nods.

He stage whispers to Nate, "If I do a bad job for long enough, she does it for me!" He laughs and picks up the broken ottoman. Nate just rolls his eyes at the second in command.

…

That night, Kyra had dinner with everyone in the tavern. She had canned meat with a side of boiled carrots. It was completely lackluster compared to the food she had on her island, but she was thankful anyways. She made sure to apologize to the settler who had his cart of gourds knocked over in her rampage.

All of the settlers took an immediate liking to her despite knowing her affiliation with, or rather leadership of, Nightmare. She regaled many stories of her time before the war and all the things she used to do for fun around here. Smith, the other member of Nightmare was just as happy to hear them and to see his usually terrifying boss look so happy and friendly.

She drank lots of wine while the others practically drowned themselves in whiskey and vodka. Everyone was a bit inebriated to say the least.

Kyra was standing on top of a table giving one of her stories from before. No, it wasn't quite her story anyways. "This is my favorite action story from before the war. It was on a certain channel and it would play every night very late. This is the story of The Great Scientist Rick and His Faithful Assistant Morty!"

Nate chuckles and shakes his head. MacCready sits beside him and gives a questioning look his way. "It's called Rick and Morty. I'm very certain she isn't going to tell it how it happened. She's likely going to tell you something she made up about them. It's like her hobby." *

"She wasn't like this on the island. Sure she was happy, but she wasn't so carefree."

Nate sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "You would be correct in saying that. The thing about Kyra…"

"Uncle Nate?" Kyra stands still on the table and looks at him with worry in her eyes but a large grin on her face. "Do you remember that theory on the type of alcohol Rick drinks?"

"Of course," He gets up to finish helping her tell her story. "Well you see," He begins.

MacCready doesn't stay to listen to the rest of the story. Whatever Nate wanted to tell him, she didn't. How she heard them both as she was telling her story was a mystery as well. Why she was so different here was bothering him. He had wanted to believe she was just loosening up because her subordinates were not here except Smith and the other two.

How he wanted to believe she was just being carefree because she was home, however, so many things didn't make sense in his mind. The rumors told a story about her insanity and ruthlessness. Her behavior on the island showed a leader that just wanted the best for her subordinates that had even publicly shamed them to keep them in line. Here, in Sanctuary, it was like she never stepped in that pod. It was like she had not been through those years in the wastes. She was just like a young teen enjoying her days with friends, untouched by the hardships of the wasteland.

"Something on your mind, friend?"

MacCready turns to see Matthew leaning against the wall beside him. It was a bit unnerving how quietly he moved. He walked around like a ghost.

"What was Nate going to say back there?"

"You saw me signing?" Matthew looks surprised, having believed he had done his signing so secretly that not even Nate would know.

"I didn't. I just thought you guys would know. She was so far away that I couldn't believe she was able to hear us." MacCready had trapped him in a verbal game of chess.

"Kyra doesn't like us talking about it. She never gave it a specific name, but from what I understand, it's something she was told she had a very long time ago. She explained it like this: She will always be Kyra, but sometimes she will be a different Kyra. She still remembers everything, but she won't act the same way to different things. Like right now, she is Kyra from before the war."

"You know that everything you are saying is insane."

"Believe me or don't. Ask Nate again if you want. You should just ask her. I think she would be better at explaining what goes on in her mind than Nate would." Matthew heads back inside to let MacCready brood in the dark.

She's the same but not the same? MacCready looks up at the dark sky. "Why did you have to get yourself tangled up in all of this mess, man? Why did you let him hire you?" He gives a heavy sigh. He was like a bad luck magnet in recent years, so why did he expect his new companions to be even slightly normal?

The rest of the night went on in a blur for everyone who wasn't sober. Kyra had passed out on one of the tables with a bottle of wine in her hand and only one boot. Matthew and Alfred were wrestling in the center of a small fight ring made by the other settlers offering said boot as a reward.

Nate had stumbled back to his home at one point. Piper had been snapping pictures of the entire night. She was now lying on the floor in 'the perfect position' to snap a photo of Alfred and Matthew on the floor. She squeals with joy as she gets the photo of the exact moment Matthew knocks Alfred out cold.

"I believe I won Kyra's boot." Smith graciously hands over his leader's shined boot to the winner. Matthew ties the laces around his belt and walks over to the sleeping Kyra. He hefts her up and leans backwards to compensate for the new weight he holds against his chest. He laces his fingers under her butt to keep her from falling. In a bout of half consciousness, Kyra wraps her arms loosely around his shoulders and pulls herself close to make it easier to carry her.

Alfred eventually gets up from the floor and looks around for Piper. "Here, reporter girl. I'm sorry I can't remember your name. Can you show me which one is Kyra's? I can't remember."

Piper laughs and helps him up from the floor. He slurs a he tries to explain to her that he usually can hold his liquor better than this. She just laughs, "Of course you can, Red."

"Red?" Alfred slurs.

"Yeah, because you wear a red jumpsuit." She sure did have a knack for picking out nicknames.

Piper leads Alfred to the house, more or less carrying him since he leans on her so heavily. She walks into the back room and stops quickly, nearly dropping Alfred. Kyra lies in the bed snuggling with Matthew. She has her arms around his middle, her face pressed to his chest and her legs tangled with his. "We should go take you to the couch."

"No, it's fine. We sleep like this on missions all of the time." Alfred stumbles over to the large bed and flops down beside Kyra. He kicks off his shoes and wraps his arm around her side, falling asleep as soon as he closes his eyes.

Piper just does what any good reporter does. She pulls out her camera and gets a photo of them all sleeping. She snickers once she sees that Kyra still only has one boot on. "Old Nate is going to get a kick out of this." Piper decides it's time for her to turn in as well and makes her way to her home she shares with a few other settlers.

…

The next morning, everyone was in bad moods. Nate had trudged his way to the tavern with a grating headache. His breakfast of mutt chops and carrots was hardly touched in favor of laying his head on the table to try to get a few moments of peace. He got his peace for a while before drinking a few cups of water and finally finishing his now cold food.

He decided that it would be best to wake Kyra up and begin what was to be their tour of everything in the vicinity as well as some or the surrounding land. He planned to take her by the truck stop once again to take a look at some of the improvements he had overseen. He also planned to take a little walk over to Abernathy Farm so she could see the other settlement Nate had claim over.

Nate knocks on the door and waits for a few seconds. Matthew opens the door, looking dead tired and like most hung-over people looked like. He had shadow under his bloodshot eyes and his hair was sticking up in a few places.

"Kyra is still sleeping."

"Can you wake her up?" Matthew doesn't answer and instead steps to the side so Nate can come in. He closes the door and returns to the back room. Nate follows behind and watches in amusement as the tired raider crawls back onto the bed. Kyra angrily grumbles something about Matthew moving around too much. Alfred grumbles at Kyra for grumbling at Matthew. They all snuggle together and fall back asleep.

Nate just nods his head and keeps from snickering. He returns to the living room and looks around the kitchen they still had to remodel a bit. He takes a trip to the tavern again and purchases some food for Kyra, Matthew and Alfred. He thinks back to those two. He had remembered at some point the night before who Alfred was, remembering how he was the first raider to greet them as they were making their way to go up to the Fallen Skybridge.

Just a few weeks prior, Kyra was ready to chop Nate's arm in her little office. She was crazy-eyed and unwilling to believe she had anyone in life to actually care for her. She was so dead set on taking over the world with her new family at her side. Sure she likely still had the same plans, but now she seemed like she may enjoy stopping to smell the roses… or whatever the equivalent of roses was in the wasteland.

She sure as hell didn't trust anyone, claiming so herself a couple of times, especially about why she never cut her hair, but she must trust those two a whole lot to be so comfortable around them. Nate looks down at the wooden floors of the tavern while he waits for the food. He wonders if this is all some sort of front she put up. She was always the same Kyra.

She was Kyra… but at the same time... she wasn't. Sure she was happy-go-lucky like she used to be, but it wasn't the same. She looked so different. That was what didn't quite match. Her attitude didn't match the way he had figured her to be. Nate shakes his head, realizing that this likely was the real Kyra while the other was the vicious leader.

He knew that he would have to confront her sooner or later. He didn't want to risk her having an episode and freaking out in the settlement, so he thought that perhaps he could do so on the way to Abernathy. Nate began to wonder if the others knew of her condition. Looking through a window to look at her blue house, he decides that even if they didn't know, there would be no problems because they both loved her, and that was clear.

Nate finally got their food and took the three plates to the house. He set them on the dining table and brought along a couple of purified water cartons as well. Alfred was the first to actually get up. Nate waited for a full hour on the recliner couch waiting. Alfred looked sleepy but was relatively surprised to see Nate sitting in the chair. "Holy shit!" Alfred puts a hand to his heart. "Sorry. You scared me. What are you doing just sitting here quietly?"

"I was waiting for you all to wake up. There is breakfast on the table and some water." Nate points to the dining table. Alfred gives a nod and sits before a plate of food. He happily chows down even if the food was cold. Nate clears his throat. "Where is Kyra?"

"Oh, she's still asleep. Mattie would be out here to join us but she said that she was going to eviscerate him if he so much as turned around. She's so mean in the mornings." Alfred snickers at the image of Kyra forcibly snuggling with Matthew, threatening to do cruel things should he decide to move and disturb her sleep further. "I'm so lucky that she usually thinks I'm too warm to snuggle with."

"This happens often?"

Alfred looks at him like it was a stupid question to ask. He seems to have some epiphany and gasps, "Oh that's right. I keep forgetting that nobody knows. Well you see, Kyra has like two of herself. One that we call Kyra and one that we call Boss. Boss is the leader of the island and all that and she is really cruel and she likes to hurt and shame us. Kyra is like this sweet woman who treats us like other teenagers even if we are all adults. When we first met Kyra, she had just formed a faction."

"It was her, her advisor and about twelve other guys. She came to visit the Chemist, who I guess is supposed to be my dad, but I don't really know. Well anyways, Mattie and I were on our way back with some supplies he told us to get and we saw her and her advisor buying some chemicals from my dad. We wanted to join her. We lived an awful life in a house that had chemicals in the air. We could fight and we asked her if we could. She was sixteen at the time."

"She told us that we could do whatever we wanted. So we said goodbye to my dad, promising to come back with lots of caps, and we followed after her."

Nate holds up his hand to stop Alfred, "Are we getting to the part where you tell me why you all sleep in the same bed like siblings?"

"Yes, this is all really important to that. They were living in Back Street Apparel at the time. She had instructed us to call her Boss and said that we would have to prove ourselves useful. When we finally got there, Todd decided that they needed more supplies. He told Kyra he would be back the next day. He left her there with us. It got late, she instructed us on how the hierarchy worked. She had already gotten her hands on Brotherhood of Steel jumpsuits."

"We got outfitted and then she told us to keep watch. She went to the other room to sleep, complaining that Todd stuck her with us and that it wasn't her job to train the new guys. We stood watch for a long time. We were really tired. Later, Kyra came out to call for someone. She seemed to have forgotten that nobody else was there. She was crying and came up to hug me. She begged us to come sit in the room with her to keep her safe. We did as she wanted, believing her to be cruel and thinking she would have killed us if we didn't."

"She had been sleeping on the floor in a pile of blankets. She pulled me over and had me lie down. Mattie agreed to keep watch for a bit longer until he was too tired and then we would switch places. And we did. She would sleep for an hour snuggled up to either of us and then we would switch. After a while, meaning several months, even when the others were around, we didn't stop. Mattie would guard the door while I slept and then I would guard while he slept. Eventually, with the group of members steadily amassing, she stopped and got her own room. Around everyone, she was Boss and around us at night, she was Kyra. When there were more people, she was worried about how they would view her and stopped."

"The next year, we had to relocate. We didn't go far, but we took over the library. The first night, when everyone was on high alert, she freaked out. She had been walking around and then just freaked out kind of like she did yesterday. We took her to the place she would call her room and because everyone was on high alert, we all slept in her pile of blankets. It was like before. It only lasted that night and we were cast out again. She seemed more on edge afterwards."

"Then" Alfred smiles, thinking about his memory of Kyra, "She decided to go on a scouting mission. She brought us both with her and she acted like she did before, like the real Kyra. It was all just a sham to spend time with us. Since then, we took scouting trips just to spend time together."

Nate nods a few times, letting all of Alfred's information sink in. "Do you know?" Alfred doesn't understand and cocks his head to the side like a dog would. "Do you know what she has?"

"She said that there are two of her but also not. She says that sometimes it's like watching herself from outside of her body. That is when the mean Kyra is in control. That is when she has to be the Boss. She says that she was told she was sick but in her mind. She got mad when I called her insane."

"I guess that is part of it… Kyra has a form of D.I.D. It is like having multiple personalities, and she does, but they are still the same person. It seems her other personality is her as the leader of Nightmare and her normal self is the person you both like. It's not unlike what she was like as a child. This other personality is a coping mechanism for trauma. She likely created it when she came out of Sanctuary. She knows what she has but sometimes she can't tell who she really is. My bet is that sometimes Boss acts and she can't tell if it is her own action or her other personality's. It's really all pretty confusing."

"Dude, you lost me a long time ago."

"I'm kind of talking to myself anyways," Nate chuckles at the confused raider. "It has been five years she was without medication for this, so for it to pop up again doesn't strike me as odd."

"We don't think of her any differently. We love the boss. Sure she's cruel as hell and has a mean streak a mile long, but she makes up for it by being Kyra around us and us only." Alfred smiles. Nate's vision blurs as he tries to hold back tears.

Kyra had people who loved her. It made his heart soar. This new life may have been absolute hell for her, but it was so much better than her before life in the people she had around her. These two guys understood she was cruel and violent, and in this world it was important, but they liked her because she felt comfortable enough around them to truly be herself instead of 'the boss'.

Nate cries tears of happiness, smiling as he tries to dry his face. "I'm so happy for her."

...

[AN]: *Guess what! Kyra writes fanfiction too. She enjoys reality television and adult cartoons.

So D.I.D. is what most people describe as multiple personalities. Kyra actually has Depersonalization with D.I.D. tendencies. It basically means that she can function on autopilot with a certain personality as a coping mechanism. Being 'Boss Kyra' would not really change her in reality, but in her mind, she gets information in such a way that it seems like she has another personality and things she does not want to see are treated as repressed memories. Its very difficult to understand and explain, but it is intriguing at the same time.


End file.
